Shloka 45

Devanagari script

द्रोणस्य कर्म तद्‌ दृष्टवा कोपदुःखसमन्वित: । शशाप रथिनां मध्ये धृष्टदुम्नो महामना:,विराट, द्रुपद, केकय, चेदि, मत्स्य और पांचाल योद्धाओं तथा राजा द्रुपदके तीनों वीर पौत्रोंके मारे जानेपर द्रोणाचार्यका वह कर्म देखकर क्रोध और दुःखसे भरे हुए महामनस्वी धष्टद्युम्नने रथियोंके बीचमें इस प्रकार शपथ खायी

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | droṇasya karma tad dṛṣṭvā kopaduḥkhasamanvitaḥ | śaśāpa rathināṃ madhye dhṛṣṭadyumno mahāmanāḥ |

Translation

サञ्जयは語った。ドローナのその所業を見て、高魂のドリシュタデュムナは怒りと悲嘆に呑まれ、戦車武者たちのただ中で、呪詛にも似た厳粛な誓いを口にした。

Word by Word

द्रोणस्यof Droṇa

कर्मdeed, act

तत्that

दृष्ट्वाhaving seen

कोपदुःखसमन्वितःendowed with anger and sorrow

शशापswore, took an oath

रथिनाम्of the chariot-warriors

मध्येin the midst

धृष्टद्युम्नःDhṛṣṭadyumna

महामनाःgreat-souled

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Droṇa (Droṇācārya)

Dhṛṣṭadyumna

rathins (chariot-warriors)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how witnessing a devastating act in war can ignite anger and grief, leading to a binding vow of retaliation. Ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension: even within kṣatriya-dharma, perceived excess or cruelty can trigger cycles of vengeance that deepen collective suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Dhṛṣṭadyumna, after seeing Droṇa’s battlefield deed, becomes consumed by wrath and sorrow and then publicly declares a severe oath/curse among the assembled chariot-warriors—signaling an imminent retaliatory action and a turning point in the conflict’s intensity.