Shloka 17

Adhyāya 36: Ghora-yuddha-varṇanam

A Clinical Description of the Intensified Engagement

Devanagari script

शिक्षाप्रमादश्न बल॑ धृतिश्न द्रोणे महास्त्राणि च संनतिश्न । स चेदगान्मृत्युवशं महात्मा सव्वनिन्यानातुरानद्य मन्ये

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | śikṣāpramādaś ca balaṃ dhṛtiś ca droṇe mahāstrāṇi ca saṃnatiś ca | sa ced agān mṛtyuvaśaṃ mahātmā sarvān nṛṇām āturān adya manye ||

Translation

Sanjaya berkata: “Latihan dan disiplin, kewaspadaan, kekuatan, keteguhan hati, penguasaan senjata-senjata agung, serta kerendahan hati—semua kebajikan itu ada pada Drona. Jika bahkan Drona yang berhati luhur itu telah jatuh ke dalam kuasa Maut, maka hari ini kupandang semua manusia lainnya pun sudah dekat pada ajal.”

Word by Word

• {'śikṣā': 'training, instruction

• disciplined learning (especially martial/vedic)', 'apramāda': 'vigilance, carefulness

• freedom from negligence', 'bala': 'strength, power (physical and strategic)', 'dhṛti': 'steadfastness, fortitude, sustaining resolve', 'Droṇa': 'Droṇācārya, the preceptor and master of arms', 'mahāstrāṇi': 'great weapons

• powerful missiles/astric weapons', 'saṃnati': 'humility, deference, modest conduct', 'mahātmā': 'great-souled, noble-minded', 'mṛtyu-vaśa': 'under Death’s control

• subject to mortality', 'sarvān nṛṇām': 'all men/people', 'āturān': 'afflicted, distressed

• as if already seized by calamity', 'adya': 'today, now', 'manye': 'I think, I consider'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Droṇa (Droṇācārya)
• Mṛtyu (Death, personified)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even the most accomplished—endowed with discipline, vigilance, strength, courage, mastery of weapons, and humility—cannot escape mortality; therefore pride is futile and the calamity of war spares no one.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reflects on Droṇa’s fall, listing the teacher’s exemplary qualities and concluding that if such a mighty and virtuous warrior can be overcome by Death, then the rest of the combatants are likewise in grave peril.