Shloka 196
य॑ं सम द्रोण: सुतं प्राप्प केशग्रहमवाप्तवान् । मेरे दिव्यास्त्रोंको धिक्कार है! मेरे इन दोनों भुजाओंको धिक्कार है! तथा मेरे पराक्रमको धिक्कार है!! जब कि मेरे-जैसे पुत्रको पाकर आचार्य द्रोणने केशग्रहणका अपमान उठाया
yaṁ sama droṇaḥ sutaṁ prāpya keśagraham avāptavān | mama divyāstrāṇi dhik! mama imau bāhū dhik! tathā mama parākramaṁ dhik!! yasmāt mama-sadṛśaṁ putraṁ prāpya ācārya-droṇena keśagrahaṇasyāpamānaḥ soḍhaḥ |
Sanjaya said: “Fie upon my celestial weapons! Fie upon these two arms of mine! Fie upon my vaunted prowess! For even after obtaining a son like mine, Teacher Droṇa has been forced to endure the humiliation of being seized by the hair.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the ethical weight of honor and disgrace in warrior culture: when a revered teacher is publicly humiliated, it is felt as a moral failure of those responsible for his protection, prompting intense self-reproach and reflection on the limits of strength and weapons.
Sanjaya reports a moment of battlefield disgrace: Droṇa, despite being a formidable master of divine weapons, suffers the indignity of being grabbed by the hair. The speaker reacts with repeated ‘dhik’—condemning weapons, arms, and valor—because such an insult to the preceptor should not have been possible.