Shloka 32
अध्याय १५९ — रात्रौ श्रमविरामः
Night Exhaustion and Brief Pause in Battle
सैन्यानि द्रावयन्तं त॑ द्रोणो दृष्टवा युधिष्ठिरम् । चोदितस्तव पुत्रेण सायकैरभ्यवाकिरत्,द्रोणाचार्यने युधिष्ठिको अपनी सेनाओंको खदेड़ते देख आपके पुत्र दुर्योधनसे प्रेरित होकर उनपर बाणोंकी वर्षा आरम्भ कर दी
saīnyāni drāvayantaṃ taṃ droṇo dṛṣṭvā yudhiṣṭhiram | coditas tava putreṇa sāyakair abhyavākirat ||
Sañjaya said: Seeing Yudhiṣṭhira driving the armies into flight, Droṇa—spurred on by your son (Duryodhana)—poured a shower of arrows upon him. The scene underscores how, in the heat of war, even revered teachers are drawn into intensified violence under the pressure of royal command and battlefield urgency.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how battlefield dharma is shaped by roles and pressures: a commander and revered teacher like Droṇa intensifies combat when urged by the king, showing the ethical tension between personal restraint and obedience to wartime duty.
Yudhiṣṭhira is routing troops; Droṇa notices this and, prompted by Duryodhana, counters by raining arrows on Yudhiṣṭhira to halt his momentum.