Mahabharata 7.165.19 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 165, Shloka 19

Droṇa’s Withdrawal, Death, and the Kaurava Rout (द्रोणनिधन-प्रसङ्गः)

Devanagari script

सब लोगोंने देखा कि मशाल और तेल हाथमें लिये पैदल सैनिकोंद्वारा सेवित सारी सेनाएँ रात्रिके समय उसी प्रकार प्रकाशित हो उठी हैं, जैसे आकाशमें बादल बिजलियोंके प्रकाशसे प्रकाशित हो उठते हैं ।।

Transliteration

prakāśitāyāṃ tu tato dhvajinyāṃ droṇo 'gnikalpaḥ pratapan samantāt | rarāja rājendra suvarṇavarmā madhyaṃ gataḥ sūrya ivāṃśumālī ||

Translation

சஞ்சயன் கூறினான்—தீவட்டிகளும் எண்ணெயும் கையில் கொண்ட காலாட்கள் பணியாற்ற, அந்தப் படையணி இவ்வாறு ஒளிர்ந்தபோது, அரசே, தீயைப் போலக் கொழுந்தெழுந்து சுற்றிலும் சுடர்வீசும் துரோணர், பொன்னாடை கவசம் தரித்து, நடுவில் கதிர்மிகு சூரியனைப் போலப் பிரகாசித்தார்।

Word by Word

• {'prakāśitāyām': 'when (it was) illuminated, in the state of being lit up (locative absolute)', 'tataḥ': 'then, thereafter', 'dhvajinyām': 'in the army (lit. ‘bannered host’)', 'droṇaḥ': 'Droṇa (the commander/teacher-warrior)', 'agnikalpaḥ': 'like fire, fire-like', 'pratapan': 'scorching, burning, afflicting (present participle)', 'samantāt': 'on all sides, all around', 'rarāja': 'shone, glittered, appeared splendid', 'rājendra': 'O lord of kings (address to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)', 'suvarṇavarmā': 'wearing golden armour', 'madhyaṃ gataḥ': 'having gone to the middle

• standing in the midst', 'sūryaḥ': 'the sun', 'iva': 'like, as', 'aṃśumālī': 'ray-bearing, radiant (epithet of the sun)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as rājendra)
• Droṇa
• army (dhvajinī)
• torches (maśāla)
• oil (taila)
• foot-soldiers (padātayaḥ)
• sun (sūrya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the double-edged nature of martial excellence: a leader may appear glorious and inspiring like the sun, yet that same brilliance is tied to the harsh necessity of war—‘scorching all around.’ It invites reflection on how power and splendour can coexist with suffering, and how duty in battle carries grave ethical weight.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the armies are illuminated at night by attendants carrying torches and oil. In that lit battlefield, Droṇa—wearing golden armour—stands in the center and shines conspicuously, compared to the sun, while also being described as fire-like and burning in his assault.