Shloka 5
धृतराष्ट्रस्य मूर्च्छा तथा द्रोणविषयकप्रश्नाः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Fainting and Questions Concerning Droṇa
पाज्चालपुत्रो न्यवधीद् दिव्यास्त्रधरमच्युतम् । कुर्वाणं दारुणं कर्म रणे यत्तं महारथम्,तात! द्रोणाचार्य तो शत्रुओंके लिये सर्वथा दुर्जय थे। वे सुवर्णमय पंखवाले बाणसमूहोंकी बारंबार वर्षा करते थे। उनके हाथोंमें फुर्ती थी। वे विचित्र रीतिसे युद्ध करनेवाले और विद्वान थे। दूरतक बाण मारनेवाले और अस्त्र-युद्धमें पारंगत थे। फिर उन जितेन्द्रिय दिव्यास्त्रधारी और अपनी मर्यादासे कभी च्युत न होनेवाले द्विजश्रेष्ठ द्रोणाचार्यको पांचालराजकुमार धृष्टद्युम्नने कैसे मार दिया? वे तो रणक्षेत्रमें कठोर कर्म करनेवाले, विजयके लिये प्रयत्नशील और महारथी वीर थे
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca |
pāñcālaputro nyavadhīd divyāstradharam acyutam |
kurvāṇaṃ dāruṇaṃ karma raṇe yat taṃ mahāratham ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “How did the son of the Pāñcālas slay Droṇa—unyielding in his vows, a master of divine weapons—when that great chariot-warrior was striving in battle and performing fierce deeds? Droṇa seemed invincible to his foes; so by what means was such a disciplined, formidable teacher brought down?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical shock: even a disciplined, divinely-armed master can be brought down in war. It points to the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between personal virtue and the brutal, destabilizing logic of battle—where strategy, circumstance, and destiny can overturn apparent invincibility.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks how Dhṛṣṭadyumna, the Pāñcāla prince, managed to kill Droṇa on the battlefield. The question anticipates the account of the conditions that led to Droṇa’s fall during the Kurukṣetra war.