Shloka 10
धृतराष्ट्रस्य मूर्च्छा तथा द्रोणविषयकप्रश्नाः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Fainting and Questions Concerning Droṇa
दैवमेव परं मन्ये नन्वनर्थ हि पौरुषम् | अश्मसारमयं नून॑ हृदयं सुदृढे मम
daivam eva paraṁ manye nanv anartha hi pauruṣam | aśmasāramayaṁ nūnaṁ hṛdayaṁ sudṛḍhe mama ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra dit : «Désormais je tiens le destin seul pour souverain ; car l’effort humain paraît vraiment vain. Mon cœur doit être fait d’essence de pierre—dur, inébranlable—puisque j’ai enduré et que je demeure encore au milieu de ce désastre.»
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse voices the tension between daiva (fate) and pauruṣa (human agency). Dhṛtarāṣṭra, overwhelmed by the consequences of war and his own choices, elevates fate as supreme and calls human effort ‘anartha’ (ruinous/futile), revealing a moral danger: shifting responsibility from ethical decision-making to destiny.
In the Drona Parva’s unfolding devastation, Dhṛtarāṣṭra reacts to grim reports from the battlefield. He laments that events seem driven by fate and confesses an inner hardness—‘stone-like’ resolve or numbness—that has allowed him to continue along a path leading to catastrophe.