Shloka 231

कृपोपदेशः — द्रौणेरनिद्रा च

Kṛpa’s Counsel and Drauṇi’s Sleepless Resolve

Devanagari script

एवमुक्तस्ततो द्रौणिर्मातुलेन हित॑ वच: । अब्रवीन्मातुलं राजन्‌ क्रोधसंरक्तलोचन:

Transliteration

evam uktas tato drauṇir mātulena hitaṁ vacaḥ | abravīn mātulaṁ rājan krodha-saṁrakta-locanaḥ ||

Translation

Thus addressed by his maternal uncle with well-meant counsel, Droṇa’s son (Aśvatthāmā), his eyes reddened with anger, replied to his uncle, O King. The moment underscores how even beneficial advice can be rejected when the mind is seized by wrath, a moral fault that clouds judgment in the aftermath of war.

Word by Word

एवम्thus

उक्तःhaving been spoken to / addressed

ततःthen, thereafter

द्रौणिःDrauni (son of Droṇa; Aśvatthāman)

मातुलेनby (his) maternal uncle

हितम्beneficial, well-meant

वचःspeech, words

अब्रवीत्said, spoke

मातुलम्(to) the maternal uncle

राजन्O king

क्रोधसंरक्तलोचनःwhose eyes were reddened with anger

Speaker

कृप उवाच

Characters & Entities

Aśvatthāmā (Drauṇi)

Kṛpa (maternal uncle; speaker)

King (listener/narratee, traditionally Dhṛtarāṣṭra)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how krodha (anger) distorts perception and makes a person resistant to hita-vacana (beneficial counsel). Ethically, it warns that moral discernment collapses when one speaks and acts from wrath, especially in the volatile aftermath of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kṛpa has spoken well-intentioned words to Aśvatthāmā. In response, Aśvatthāmā—identified as Drauṇi, the son of Droṇa—answers his maternal uncle while visibly inflamed with anger (eyes reddened), signaling an escalating, emotionally driven turn in the episode.