Shloka 26

Devanagari script

असंशयं तथाभूत: पाउ्चाल्य: साध्वमन्यत । वधमाचार्यमुख्यस्य प्राप्तकालं महात्मन:,उस अवस्थामें पांचालराजकुमारने यह निःसंदेह ठीक मान लिया कि अब आचार्यप्रवर महात्मा द्रोणके वधका समय आ पहुँचा है

Transliteration

asaṁśayaṁ tathābhūtaḥ pāñcālyaḥ sādhv amanyata | vadham ācāryamukhyasya prāptakālaṁ mahātmanaḥ ||

Translation

サञ्जयは語った。そのような心境にあったパーンチャーラの王子は、疑いなくこう断じた――師の中の第一、偉大なる魂ドローナを討つべき時が、いま到来したのだと。ここには戦の冷酷な算段が刻まれている。崇敬すべき師でさえ戦略上の障碍と見なされ、「正しき行い」は敬意のみならず、時の切迫によって定義される。

Word by Word

असंशयम्undoubtedly

तथाthus, in that manner

अभूतःbecame, was

पाञ्चाल्यःthe Pāñcāla prince (Dhr̥ṣṭadyumna)

साधुrightly, well

अमन्यतthought, considered

वधम्killing, slaying

आचार्य-मुख्यस्यof the foremost among teachers

प्राप्त-कालम्whose time had come / timely

महात्मनःof the great-souled one

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Pāñcāla prince (Dhṛṣṭadyumna)

Droṇācārya

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, in war, moral judgment can shift from personal reverence to perceived necessity: the Pāñcāla prince convinces himself that killing even a revered teacher is ‘proper’ because the moment (kāla) demands it. It invites reflection on dharma under pressure—how certainty can arise from circumstance, and how ‘right’ may be argued from expediency.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the Pāñcāla prince (Dhṛṣṭadyumna) concludes decisively that the time has come to kill Droṇa, the foremost preceptor on the battlefield. It marks a turning point where Droṇa is no longer viewed primarily as a venerable teacher but as a target whose removal is considered crucial to the war’s outcome.