Mahabharata 7.11.29 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 11, Shloka 29
Droṇa’s Conditional Boon: The Plan to Capture Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रोणेन युधिष्ठिरग्रहणोपायः)
एते<न्ये बलवन्तश्न वृष्णिवीरा: प्रहारिण: । कथंचित् पाण्डवानीकं श्रयेयु: समरे स्थिता:
ete 'nye balavantaś ca vṛṣṇivīrāḥ prahāriṇaḥ | kathaṃcit pāṇḍavānīkaṃ śrayeyuḥ samare sthitāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana nói: “Những người khác ấy nữa—các dũng sĩ Vṛṣṇi hùng mạnh, lão luyện trong đòn đánh—khi đã đứng vững giữa trận tiền, có lẽ bằng cách nào đó sẽ tìm được chỗ nương nhờ, mà nhập vào quân doanh Pāṇḍava.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the fluidity of wartime alignments: even powerful fighters may, under pressure or prudence, seek protection by attaching themselves to a stronger or more secure force. Ethically, it points to the tension between steadfast loyalty and the instinct for survival within the dharma of battle.
The narrator (Vaiśampāyana) remarks that other formidable Vṛṣṇi heroes, skilled in combat, could—once positioned on the battlefield—somehow come to rely upon or join the Pāṇḍava battle-host, implying a possible shift or consolidation of forces amid the fighting.
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