Shloka 33
Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)
वन्दनाहाविमौ तस्य बन्दिभिव्वन्दितो शुभौ | गोमायवो विकर्षन्ति पादौ शिष्यशतार्चितौ,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
vaiśampāyana uvāca | vandanārhāv imau tasya bandibhir vandito śubhau | gomāyavo vikarṣanti pādau śiṣyaśatārcitau, keśava |
Vaiśampāyana disse: “Ó Keśava, estes dois pés auspiciosos—dignos de reverência—outrora louvados por bardos e venerados por centenas de discípulos, agora são arrastados por chacais. Assim como, nos tempos antigos, os Vedas jamais se separaram de Prajāpati Brahmā, do mesmo modo os quatro Vedas e a ciência completa das armas nunca estiveram apartados do heróico Droṇa; e, no entanto, até os pés venerados de tal mestre caíram neste destino lastimoso.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tragic inversion caused by war: even the most revered—an exalted teacher associated with Vedic learning and martial knowledge—can be reduced to indignity. Ethically, it warns that violence and adharma do not merely kill bodies; they corrode honor, sanctity, and the social reverence owed to knowledge and teachers.
In the lament-filled setting of the Strī Parva, the narrator describes a horrifying sight: the revered feet of Droṇa—once praised by bards and worshipped by many disciples—are now being dragged by jackals on the battlefield, emphasizing the devastation and moral horror after the Kurukṣetra slaughter.