Shloka 29
Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)
यं पुरोधाय कुरव आह्वयन्ति सम पाण्डवान् | सो<यं शस्त्रभतां श्रेष्ठो द्रोण: शस्त्रै: परिक्षत:,जिनको आगे रखकर कौरव पाण्डवोंको ललकारा करते थे, वे ही शस्त्रधारियोंमें श्रेष्ठ द्रोणाचार्य शस्त्रोंसे क्षत-विक्षत हो गये हैं
yaṁ purodhāya kuravā āhvayanta sama pāṇḍavān | so ’yaṁ śastrabhatāṁ śreṣṭho droṇaḥ śastraiḥ parikṣataḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “He whom the Kurus placed at their forefront to challenge the Pāṇḍavas—Drona himself, the foremost among weapon-bearers—now lies torn and wounded by weapons.” The verse underscores the moral reversal of war: even the greatest masters of arms are brought low, revealing the fragility of worldly power and the tragic cost of adharma-driven conflict.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical and existential lesson that martial greatness and worldly status are impermanent; war driven by unrighteous aims consumes even the most eminent figures, turning pride and power into grief and ruin.
In the lament-filled context of Strī Parva, Vaiśampāyana points to Droṇa—once placed at the forefront by the Kauravas to confront the Pāṇḍavas—and notes that he is now grievously wounded and destroyed by weapons, a stark marker of the war’s devastation.