Mahabharata 7.196.13 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 196, Shloka 13
तमधर्मेण धर्मिष्ठं धृष्टद्युम्नेन संयुगे । श्रुत्वा निहतमाचार्यम श्वत्थामा किमब्रवीत्
tam adharmeṇa dharmiṣṭhaṃ dhṛṣṭadyumnena saṃyuge | śrutvā nihitam ācāryam aśvatthāmā kim abravīt ||
دھرتراشٹر نے کہا— جب اس نے سنا کہ دھرم میں ثابت قدم آچاریہ درون کو میدانِ جنگ میں دھشتدیومن نے ناروا طریقے سے قتل کر دیا ہے، تو اشوتھاما نے کیا کہا؟
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the moral rupture between dharma and adharma in war: even a ‘dharmiṣṭha’ teacher can be brought down when ethical boundaries collapse, and the narrative turns to the consequences—especially the son’s response, where grief and perceived injustice can fuel retaliatory adharma.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks what Aśvatthāmā said after hearing that his father and preceptor Droṇa was killed in battle by Dhṛṣṭadyumna in an unrighteous manner. The question sets up Aśvatthāmā’s ensuing words and actions in the aftermath of Droṇa’s death.
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