Shloka 19

Droṇa’s Withdrawal, Death, and the Kaurava Rout (द्रोणनिधन-प्रसङ्गः)

Devanagari script

सब लोगोंने देखा कि मशाल और तेल हाथमें लिये पैदल सैनिकोंद्वारा सेवित सारी सेनाएँ रात्रिके समय उसी प्रकार प्रकाशित हो उठी हैं, जैसे आकाशमें बादल बिजलियोंके प्रकाशसे प्रकाशित हो उठते हैं ।। प्रकाशितायां तु ततो ध्वजिन्यां द्रोणो&ग्निकल्प: प्रतपन्‌ समन्तात्‌ । रराज राजेन्द्र सुवर्णवर्मा मध्यं गत: सूर्य इवांशुमाली

Transliteration

prakāśitāyāṃ tu tato dhvajinyāṃ droṇo 'gnikalpaḥ pratapan samantāt | rarāja rājendra suvarṇavarmā madhyaṃ gataḥ sūrya ivāṃśumālī ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : «Quand l’armée eut ainsi été éclairée—servie par des fantassins portant torches et huile—, Droṇa, flamboyant comme le feu et brûlant tout autour, resplendit, ô le meilleur des rois. Revêtu d’une armure d’or, il se tenait au milieu tel le soleil éclatant de ses rayons.»

Word by Word

• {'prakāśitāyām': 'when (it was) illuminated, in the state of being lit up (locative absolute)', 'tataḥ': 'then, thereafter', 'dhvajinyām': 'in the army (lit. ‘bannered host’)', 'droṇaḥ': 'Droṇa (the commander/teacher-warrior)', 'agnikalpaḥ': 'like fire, fire-like', 'pratapan': 'scorching, burning, afflicting (present participle)', 'samantāt': 'on all sides, all around', 'rarāja': 'shone, glittered, appeared splendid', 'rājendra': 'O lord of kings (address to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)', 'suvarṇavarmā': 'wearing golden armour', 'madhyaṃ gataḥ': 'having gone to the middle

• standing in the midst', 'sūryaḥ': 'the sun', 'iva': 'like, as', 'aṃśumālī': 'ray-bearing, radiant (epithet of the sun)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as rājendra)
• Droṇa
• army (dhvajinī)
• torches (maśāla)
• oil (taila)
• foot-soldiers (padātayaḥ)
• sun (sūrya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the double-edged nature of martial excellence: a leader may appear glorious and inspiring like the sun, yet that same brilliance is tied to the harsh necessity of war—‘scorching all around.’ It invites reflection on how power and splendour can coexist with suffering, and how duty in battle carries grave ethical weight.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the armies are illuminated at night by attendants carrying torches and oil. In that lit battlefield, Droṇa—wearing golden armour—stands in the center and shines conspicuously, compared to the sun, while also being described as fire-like and burning in his assault.