Shloka 7
कच्चिद् द्रोणो न न: सर्वान् क्षपयेत् परमास्त्रवित् । समिद्ध: शिशिरापाये दहन् कक्षमिवानल:,(वे सोचने लगे--) “जैसे ग्रीष्म-ऋतुमें प्रजज्लित अग्नि सूखे जंगल या घास-फ़ूसको जलाकर भस्म कर देती है, उसी प्रकार उत्तम अस्त्रोंके ज्ञाता आचार्य द्रोण कहीं हम सब लोगोंका संहार न कर डालें
sañjaya uvāca | kaccid droṇo na naḥ sarvān kṣapayeta paramāstravit | samiddhaḥ śiśirāpāye dahan kakṣam ivānalaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “Could it be that Droṇa—master of the highest weapons—will destroy all of us, like a blazing fire at the end of winter, burning up dry brushwood?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical anxiety that arises in war when extraordinary martial skill is unleashed: power without restraint can consume indiscriminately, like fire. It implicitly warns that even legitimate warfare must be governed by limits (dharma), otherwise it becomes total destruction.
Sañjaya reports a fearful reflection: the warriors worry that Droṇa, famed as a supreme expert in astras, may annihilate them all. The comparison to a seasonal wildfire conveys the inevitability and sweeping force of Droṇa’s onslaught.