Shloka 32
Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)
वेदा यस्माच्च चत्वार: सर्वाण्यस्त्राणि केशव । अनपेतानि वै शूराद् यथैवादौ प्रजापते:,केशव! जैसे पूर्वकालसे ही प्रजापति ब्रह्मासे वेद कभी अलग नहीं हुए, उसी प्रकार जिन शूरवीर द्रोणसे चारों वेद और सम्पूर्ण अस्त्र-शस्त्र कभी दूर नहीं हुए, उन्हींके बन्दीजनोंद्वारा वन्दित इन दोनों सुन्दर एवं वन्दनीय चरणारविन्दोंको जिनकी सैकड़ों शिष्य पूजा कर चुके हैं, गीदड़ घसीट रहे हैं
vedā yasmāc ca catvāraḥ sarvāṇy astrāṇi keśava | anapetāni vai śūrād yathaivādau prajāpateḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Keśava, just as in the beginning the Vedas never became separated from Prajāpati (Brahmā), so too from that heroic Droṇa the four Vedas and all weapons and martial sciences never departed. Yet those very feet—beautiful as lotuses, worthy of reverence, praised by bards and worshipped by hundreds of disciples—are now being dragged about by jackals.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts Droṇa’s lifelong union with sacred knowledge (the Vedas) and martial mastery with the shocking indignity of his corpse being dragged by jackals, underscoring the moral horror of war: even the most revered teacher can be reduced to helplessness, and disrespect toward the dead signals a collapse of dharma.
In the aftermath of the great battle, the narrator describes the pitiable state of Droṇa’s body. Though he was celebrated by bards and honored by many disciples, his remains are now left exposed and dragged by scavengers, intensifying the lamentation and condemnation of the war’s aftermath.