Shloka 41
Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)
सामभिस्त्रिभिरन्तस्थैरनुशंसन्ति चापरे । माधव! इन जटाधारी ब्रह्मचारियोंने धनुष, शक्ति, रथकी बैठक और नाना प्रकारके बाण तथा अन्य आवश्यक वस्तुओंसे उस चिताका निर्माण किया है। वे उसीपर महातेजस्वी ट्रोणको जलाना चाहते थे; इसलिये द्रोणको चितापर रखकर वे वेदमन्त्र पढ़ते और रोते हैं, कुछ लोग अन्त समयमें उपयोगी त्रिविध सामोंका गान करते हैं || ३९-४० ई ।। अग्नावग्निं समाधाय द्रोणं हुत्वा हुताशने,चिताकी अग्निमें अग्निहोत्रसहित द्रोणाचार्यको रखकर उनकी आहुति दे उन्हींके शिष्य द्विजातिगण कृपीको आगे और चिताको दायें करके गंगाजीके तटकी ओर जा रहे हैं
sāmabhis tribhir antasthair anuśaṃsanti cāpare | mādhava! ime jaṭādhārī brahmacāriṇo dhanuḥ-śakti-ratha-baiṭhakaṃ nānā-vidhān bāṇān anyāni cāvaśyakāni vastūni ca upādāya tasya citāyā nirmāṇaṃ kṛtavantaḥ | te tasyāṃ mahātejasvinaṃ droṇaṃ dāhayitum icchanti; tasmād droṇaṃ citāyāṃ nidhāya vedamantrān paṭhanti rudanti ca; kecid ante kāle prayojanīyān trividha-sāmān gāyanti || agnāv agniṃ samādhāya droṇaṃ hutvā hutāśane, śiṣyā dvijātayaḥ kṛpīṃ purataḥ kṛtvā citāṃ ca dakṣiṇataḥ kṛtvā gaṅgā-tīraṃ prati gacchanti |
Vaiśampāyana said: “Some recite and praise with three inner Sāman-chants. O Mādhava, these matted-haired brahmacārins have built the funeral pyre with bows, spears, the fittings of chariots, many kinds of arrows, and other necessary materials. They wish to burn the radiant Droṇa upon that pyre; therefore, placing Droṇa on the pyre, they chant Vedic mantras and weep, while some sing the threefold Sāmans used at the final rites. Having kindled fire within the pyre-fire and offered Droṇa into the blazing flame, his twice-born disciples proceed toward the bank of the Gaṅgā, keeping Kṛpī in front and the pyre to their right, in the manner of a solemn funeral procession.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid the devastation of war, dharma persists through proper rites: honoring the dead, maintaining ritual order, and fulfilling the disciple’s obligation to the teacher with reverence, restraint, and compassion.
Droṇa’s disciples, described as brahmacārins, construct and light his funeral pyre, chant Vedic mantras and Sāman hymns while grieving, offer him into the fire, and then proceed in a formal procession toward the Gaṅgā’s bank with Kṛpī leading and the pyre kept to the right.