Mahabharata 7.16.19 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 16, Shloka 19
Adhyāya 16: Saṃśaptaka-vrata and the Diversion of Arjuna (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय १६)
(भारद्वाजममर्षश्न विक्रमश्न समाविशत् । समुद्धृत्य निषड्भाच्च धनुर्ज्यामवमृज्य च ।।
sañjaya uvāca |
tataḥ śoṇahayaḥ kruddhaś caturdanta iva dvipaḥ |
praviśya pāṇḍavānīkaṁ yudhiṣṭhiram upādravat ||
سنجے نے کہا—تب سرخ گھوڑوں والے رتھ پر سوار، غضبناک درون آچاریہ چار دانتوں والے گجراج کی مانند پانڈوؤں کے لشکری صف بند میں گھس پڑے اور سیدھے دھرم راج یدھشٹھِر پر چڑھ دوڑے۔
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how a leader’s wrath and resolve can decisively shape the battlefield: by targeting the opposing king (Yudhiṣṭhira), Droṇa aims at the moral and strategic center of the enemy. Implicitly, it warns that krodha (anger) is a powerful force in war—effective in action, yet ethically fraught—testing dharma amid violence.
Sañjaya reports that Droṇa, furious, breaks into the Pāṇḍava ranks like a mighty four-tusked elephant and charges directly toward King Yudhiṣṭhira, signaling an aggressive attempt to disrupt the Pāṇḍava command and morale.
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