Mahabharata 7.96.72 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 96, Shloka 72
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 96: Sātyaki’s Line-Penetration, Encirclement, and Advance toward Arjuna
बद्ध्वा तु कवचं तस्य मन्त्रेण विधिपूर्वकम् | प्रेषयामास राजानं युद्धाय महते द्विज:
baddhvā tu kavacaṃ tasya mantreṇa vidhipūrvakam | preṣayāmāsa rājānaṃ yuddhāya mahate dvijaḥ ||
ఈ విధంగా మంత్రంతో విధిపూర్వకంగా అతని కవచాన్ని బంధించి, ద్విజుడైన ద్రోణాచార్యుడు ఆ రాజును మహాయుద్ధానికి పంపెను.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s tension between ritual correctness and ethical consequence: sacred procedures (mantra, vidhi) can be employed in service of war, showing how dharma is often enacted through roles and duties even when the larger conflict is morally fraught.
Sañjaya reports that Droṇa, acting as a brahmin-warrior preceptor, ritually secures Duryodhana’s armor with mantras and then dispatches him to participate in the great battle.
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