Shloka 356
Droṇa’s Rebuke to Duryodhana after Jayadratha’s Fall (द्रोणेन दुर्योधनं प्रति प्रत्युक्तिः)
अदृश्यत रिपून् निष्नन् शिक्षयास्त्रबलेन च । दुर्योधनने अपने धनुषको खींचकर मण्डलाकार बना दिया था। वह अपनी शिक्षा और अस्त्र-बलसे इतनी शीघ्रताके साथ बाणोंको धनुषपर रखता, चलाता तथा शत्रुओंका वध करता था कि कोई उसके इस कार्यको देख नहीं पाता था
adṛśyata ripūn niṣṇan śikṣayā astrabalena ca | duryodhanena āpane dhanuṣko khīṃcakara maṇḍalākāra banā diyā thā | sa apnī śikṣā aur astrabala se itnī śīghratā ke sātha bāṇoṃ ko dhanuṣpar rakhatā, calātā tathā śatruoṃ kā vadha karatā thā ki koī uske is kārya ko dekh nahīṃ pātā thā ||
सञ्जय उवाच—दुर्योधनः धनुराकृष्य मण्डलीभावं चकार। स शिक्षाबलेनास्त्रबलेन चातिशीघ्रं शरान् ज्यायां निवेश्य मुमोच, रिपून् निष्नन्; तस्य तत्कर्म कश्चिदपि द्रष्टुं नाशक्नोत्।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how disciplined training (śikṣā) and technical mastery (astrabala) can make action extraordinarily effective—yet in the ethical frame of the Mahābhārata, such prowess is morally neutral: its value depends on the cause it serves and the restraint with which it is used.
Sañjaya describes Duryodhana’s battlefield performance: he whirls his bow in a circular motion and shoots so rapidly that observers cannot even see the sequence of nocking and releasing arrows, while enemies fall under his attack.