Shloka 16
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 96: Sātyaki’s Line-Penetration, Encirclement, and Advance toward Arjuna
मया त्वाशंसमानेन त्वत्तस्त्राणमबुद्धिना । आश्वासित: सिन्धुपतिमोहाद दत्तश्न मृत्यवे,त्वरन्नेकरथेनैव समेत्य द्रोणमब्रवीत् । संजय कहते हैं--राजन्! तदनन्तर जब कुन्तीकुमार अर्जुन सिन्धुराज जयद्रथका वध करनेकी इच्छासे द्रोणाचार्य और कृतवर्माका दुस्तर सेना-व्यूह भेदन करके आपकी सेनामें प्रविष्ट हो गये और सव्यसाची अर्जुनके हाथसे जब काम्बोजराजकुमार सुदक्षिण तथा पराक्रमी श्रुतायुध मार दिये गये तथा जब सारी सेनाएँ नष्ट-भ्रष्ट होकर चारों ओर भाग खड़ी हुईं, उस समय अपनी सम्पूर्ण सेनामें भगदड़ मची देख आपका पुत्र दुर्योधन बड़ी उतावलीके साथ एकमात्र रथके द्वारा द्रोणाचार्यके पास गया और उनसे मिलकर इस प्रकार बोला-- “मुझ मूर्खने आपसे संरक्षण पानेका भरोसा करके सिन्धुराज जयद्रथको समझा- बुझाकर यहीं रोक लिया और इस प्रकार मोहवश मैंने उन्हें मौतके हाथमें सौंप दिया
sañjaya uvāca |
mayā tvāśaṃsamānena tvattas trāṇam abuddhinā |
āśvāsitaḥ sindhupatiḥ mohād dattaś ca mṛtyave |
tvarann ekarathenaiva sametya droṇam abravīt ||
Sañjaya said: “O King, in my folly, relying on protection from you, I reassured the lord of Sindhu (Jayadratha); and, deluded, I effectively handed him over to death. Then, hurrying in great agitation, your son went alone in a single chariot to Droṇa, met him, and spoke.” Ethically, the verse frames Duryodhana’s act as a culpable misjudgment: confidence in external protection and political reassurance becomes complicity in exposing an ally to fatal danger, underscoring how delusion (moha) and rash counsel in war can turn into moral responsibility for another’s destruction.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral responsibility in leadership: reassuring and placing someone in danger through delusion (moha) and misplaced confidence makes one complicit in the consequences. In war, counsel and promises of protection are ethically weighty, not merely strategic.
Sañjaya reports that Duryodhana, realizing the peril to Jayadratha, admits he had reassured Jayadratha by relying on Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s side for protection, thereby exposing him to death. In haste, Duryodhana goes alone in a single chariot to Droṇa and begins to address him.