वासुदेवश्व वार्ष्णेयो धर्मपुत्रश्च पाण्डव: । उस समय मैं, कुन्तीपुत्र अर्जुन, शरद्वानके पुत्र कृपाचार्य, वृष्णिवंशी भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण तथा धर्मपुत्र पाण्डुनन्दन युधिष्ठिर--इन पाँच मनुष्योंने ही योगयुक्त महात्मा द्रोणको परम धामकी ओर जाते देखा था ।। अन््ये तु सर्वे नापश्यन् भारद्वाजस्य धीमत:
sañjaya uvāca |
vāsudevaś ca vārṣṇeyo dharmaputraś ca pāṇḍavaḥ |
ahaṃ ca kuntīputro 'rjunaḥ śāradvānātmajaḥ kṛpaḥ |
yogayuktaṃ mahātmānaṃ droṇaṃ parama-dhāma-gam |
paśyāmaḥ pañca mānuṣāḥ | anye tu sarve nāpaśyan bhāradvājasya dhīmataḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa of the Vṛṣṇi line, the Pāṇḍava Yudhiṣṭhira—son of Dharma—together with me, Arjuna the son of Kuntī, and Kṛpa the son of Śaradvat: we five alone saw the great-souled Droṇa, established in yoga, departing toward the supreme abode. All the others did not behold that wise son of Bharadvāja.
संजय उवाच
The verse contrasts outer visibility with inner spiritual perception: only a few—those closely aligned with dharma and disciplined awareness—are said to witness Droṇa’s yogic departure to the supreme abode, suggesting that the moral-spiritual state of a person at death may be apprehended only by those with refined insight.
After Droṇa’s fall, Sañjaya reports that only five—Kṛṣṇa, Yudhiṣṭhira, Arjuna, Kṛpa, and Sañjaya—saw Droṇa, described as yoga-established, proceeding to the highest state; the rest of the warriors did not perceive this departure.