Shloka 21

स्त्री-विलापः — गान्धार्याः रणभूमिदर्शनं शापवचनं च

Battlefield Lament and Gāndhārī’s Curse

Devanagari script

द्रोणास्त्रमभिहत्यैष विमर्दे मधुसूदन । महेष्वासो हतः शेते नद्या हत इव द्रुम:,मधुसूदन! यह महाधनुर्धर वीर संग्राममें द्रोणाचार्यके अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंका नाश करके नदीके वेगसे कटे हुए वृक्षेके समान मरकर धराशायी हो गया

Transliteration

droṇāstram abhihatya eṣa vimarde madhusūdana | maheṣvāso hataḥ śete nadyā hata iva drumaḥ ||

Translation

മധുസൂദനാ! യുദ്ധത്തിന്റെ കഠിന കലഹത്തിൽ ഈ മഹാധനുർധരൻ ദ്രോണന്റെ അസ്ത്രത്തെ തകർത്തു; ഇപ്പോൾ നദിയുടെ പ്രചണ്ഡ പ്രവാഹത്തിൽ വീണ മരംപോലെ ഹതനായി നിലത്തു കിടക്കുന്നു।

Word by Word

द्रोणास्त्रम्Droṇa’s weapon (the Droṇa-astra)

अभिहत्यhaving struck down / having destroyed

एषःthis (man/warrior)

विमर्देin the melee/battle

मधुसूदनO Madhusūdana (Krishna)

महेष्वासःthe great archer

हतःslain

शेतेlies (fallen)

नद्याःby the river (current)

हतःcut down / felled

इवlike, as if

द्रुमःa tree

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Madhusūdana (Kṛṣṇa)

Droṇa (Droṇācārya)

Droṇāstra (Droṇa’s weapon)

river (nadī)

tree (druma)

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 the impermanence of martial glory and the ethical bleakness of war: even after a feat such as neutralizing a famed weapon, the warrior’s end is sudden and final, likened to a tree swept down by a river—powerful, yet ultimately helpless before larger forces.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes to the listener (addressing Kṛṣṇa as Madhusūdana) that a renowned archer, after countering Droṇa’s weapon in the thick of battle, has been killed and now lies fallen, compared to a tree cut down by a river’s current.