Shloka 123
धृतराष्ट्रस्य मूर्च्छा तथा द्रोणविषयकप्रश्नाः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Fainting and Questions Concerning Droṇa
पतनं भास्करस्यथेव न मृष्ये द्रोणपातनम् । द्रोणका रणभूमिमें गिराया जाना समुद्रके सूखने, मेरु पर्वतके चलने-फिरने और सूर्यके आकाशसे टूटकर गिरनेके समान है। मैं इसे किसी प्रकार सहन नहीं कर पाता
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | patanaṃ bhāskarasyeva na mṛṣye droṇapātanam | droṇaḥ raṇabhūmau pātitaḥ samudrasya śoṣaṇena meror calanena bhāskarasya nabhastalaṃ bhittvā patanena ca samam iva manye | etad ahaṃ kathaṃcid api na sahāmi |
धृतराष्ट्र उवाच— न मृष्ये द्रोणपतनं भास्करस्येव पातनम् । समुद्रस्येव शोषोऽयं मेरोरिव चलनं तथा ॥ नभसः पतितो भानुरिव द्रोणो रणाजिरे, एतन्न शक्नोम्यहं सोढुं कथंचन संजय ॥
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the fall of a revered figure (a teacher-warrior like Droṇa) can feel like a collapse of the moral and cosmic order. It also implicitly raises the ethical tension of war: even when victory is sought, the destruction of venerable elders is experienced as a profound, almost world-shattering loss.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra hears of Droṇa being felled in battle and reacts with intense shock and sorrow. He uses cosmic-scale comparisons—ocean drying, Meru moving, the sun falling—to convey that Droṇa’s downfall is, to him, unimaginable and unbearable.