Shloka 15
Śalya’s Consecration as Senāpati and Kṛṣṇa’s Counsel to Yudhiṣṭhira (शल्यस्य सेनापत्यभिषेकः)
आराध्य त्र्यम्बक॑ यत्नाद व्रतैरुग्रैमहातपा: । अयोनिजायामुत्पन्नो द्रोणेनायोनिजेन यः
ārādhya tryambakaṃ yatnād vratair ugrair mahātapāḥ | ayonijāyām utpanno droṇenāyonijena yaḥ ||
संजय बोले—उग्र व्रतों और कठोर तपस्याओं द्वारा त्र्यम्बक (शिव) को यत्नपूर्वक प्रसन्न करके वह महातपस्वी प्रकट हुआ—जो अयोनिजा से उत्पन्न था, और जिसे द्रोण ने भी, स्वयं अयोनिज होकर, उत्पन्न किया।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the traditional idea that intense discipline—severe vows and austerity—directed toward a deity (here, Śiva as Tryambaka) can yield extraordinary results. It frames exceptional power or destiny as rooted in devotion and tapas, not merely in ordinary lineage.
Sañjaya describes a figure characterized by extraordinary, non-ordinary birth (ayonija) and links that origin to rigorous worship of Śiva. The line also recalls Droṇa’s own unusual origin, emphasizing a chain of exceptional births within the unfolding war narrative.