Drona Answers Duryodhana's Reproach

Verse 1 (7.152.1)

सिन्धुराजे हते तात समरे सव्यसाचिना । तथैव भूरिश्रवसि किमासीद्वो मनस्तदा ॥

sindhurāje hate tāta samare savyasācinā | tathaiva bhūriśravasi kimāsīdvo manastadā

Dear Sanjaya, when the lord of the Sindhus had been slain in battle by Savyasachin, and Bhurishravas as well, what was your state of mind then?

Verse 2 (7.152.2)

दुर्योधनेन च द्रोणस्तथोक्तः कुरुसंसदि । किमुक्तवान्परं तस्मात्तन्ममाचक्ष्व सञ्जय ॥

duryodhanena ca droṇastathoktaḥ kurusaṃsadi | kimuktavānparaṃ tasmāttanmamācakṣva sañjaya

And what did Drona say next, when Duryodhana had spoken to him in that way in the assembly of the Kurus? Tell me that, Sanjaya.

Note on the text: Corrected कुरसंसदि → कुरुसंसदि (misprint in Wikisource; a dropped ु; the critical edition reads kurusaṃsadi).

Verse 3 (7.152.3)

निष्टानको महानासीत्सैन्यानां तव भारत । सैन्धवं निहतं दृष्ट्वा भूरिश्रवसमेव च ॥

niṣṭānako mahānāsītsainyānāṃ tava bhārata | saindhavaṃ nihataṃ dṛṣṭvā bhūriśravasameva ca

A great cry of distress rose from your armies, Bharata, when they saw Saindhava slain, and Bhurishravas too.

Verse 4 (7.152.4)

मन्त्रितं तव पुत्रस्य ते सर्वमवमेनिरे । येन मन्त्रेण निहताः शतशः क्षत्रियर्षभाः ॥

mantritaṃ tava putrasya te sarvamavamenire | yena mantreṇa nihatāḥ śataśaḥ kṣatriyarṣabhāḥ

They all made light of your son's counsel, by which hundreds of the best of kshatriyas had been killed.

Note on the text: Corrected मन्त्रैण → मन्त्रेण (misprint in Wikisource; the instrumental of मन्त्र is मन्त्रेण; the critical edition reads mantreṇa).

Verse 5 (7.152.5)

द्रोणस्तु तद्वचः श्रुत्वा पुत्रस्य तव दुर्मनाः । मुहूर्तमिव च ध्यात्वा भृशमार्तोऽभ्यभाषत ॥

droṇastu tadvacaḥ śrutvā putrasya tava durmanāḥ | muhūrtamiva ca dhyātvā bhṛśamārto'bhyabhāṣata

But Drona, hearing those words of your son, was troubled; after reflecting for a moment, he spoke, deeply pained.

Verse 6 (7.152.6)

दुर्योधन किमेवं मां वाक्शरैरुपकृन्तसि । अजय्यं सततं सङ्ख्ये ब्रुवाणं सव्यसाचिनम् ॥

duryodhana kimevaṃ māṃ vākśarairupakṛntasi | ajayyaṃ satataṃ saṅkhye bruvāṇaṃ savyasācinam

Duryodhana, why do you cut me with the arrows of your words, when I have always said that Savyasachin is invincible in battle?

Verse 7 (7.152.7)

एतेनैवार्जुनं ज्ञातुमलं कौरव संयुगे । यच्छिखण्ड्यवधीद्भीष्मं पाल्यमानः किरीटिना ॥

etenaivārjunaṃ jñātumalaṃ kaurava saṃyuge | yacchikhaṇḍyavadhīdbhīṣmaṃ pālyamānaḥ kirīṭinā

From this alone, O Kaurava, Arjuna should have been known in battle: Shikhandi killed Bhishma while guarded by Kiritin.

Note on the text: Corrected एतेनवार्जुनं → एतेनैवार्जुनं (misprint in Wikisource; a dropped ै; the critical edition reads etenaivārjunaṃ).

Verse 8 (7.152.8)

अवध्यं निहतं दृष्ट्वा संयुगे देवदानवैः । तदैवाज्ञासिषमहं नेयमस्तीति भारती ॥

avadhyaṃ nihataṃ dṛṣṭvā saṃyuge devadānavaiḥ | tadaivājñāsiṣamahaṃ neyamastīti bhāratī

When I saw the one who could not be killed even by gods and demons slain in battle, I knew at that very moment that this host of the Bharatas was no more.

Verse 9 (7.152.9)

यं पुंसां त्रिषु लोकेषु सर्वशूरममंस्म हि । तस्मिन्निपतिते भीष्मे कं शेषं पर्युपास्महे ॥

yaṃ puṃsāṃ triṣu lokeṣu sarvaśūramamaṃsma hi | tasminnipatite bhīṣme kaṃ śeṣaṃ paryupāsmahe

He whom we thought the foremost hero in the three worlds, with Bhishma fallen, whom is there left for us to look to?

Verse 10 (7.152.10)

यान्स्म तान्ग्लहते तात शकुनिः कुरुसंसदि । अक्षान्न तेऽक्षा निशिता बाणास्ते शत्रुतापनाः ॥

yānsma tānglahate tāta śakuniḥ kurusaṃsadi | akṣānna te'kṣā niśitā bāṇāste śatrutāpanāḥ

The dice that Shakuni cast in the Kuru assembly, dear son, were not dice: they were sharp arrows, tormentors of enemies.

Verse 11 (7.152.11)

अक्षांस्तु मन्यसे बाणाञ्छोभमानाञ्छिताञ्शरान् । त एते घ्नन्ति नस्तात विशिखाः पार्थचोदिताः । तांस्तदाऽऽख्यायमानस्त्वं विदुरेण न बुद्धवान् ॥

akṣāṃstu manyase bāṇāñchobhamānāñchitāñśarān | ta ete ghnanti nastāta viśikhāḥ pārthacoditāḥ | tāṃstadā''khyāyamānastvaṃ vidureṇa na buddhavān

You regard the dice as arrows, as bright and sharp shafts. Those very shafts, dear son, now strike us, driven on by Partha; and when Vidura pointed them out to you then, you did not understand.

Note on the text: Removed the wiki backtick and closing apostrophe round line 1. Line 1 is the CE star line 7.126.10d*1090_01 (printed after 7.126.10); lines 2–3 = CE 7.126.11 (पार्थचोदिताः for jayacoditāḥ, तांस्तदाऽऽख्यायमानः for yāṃs tadā khyāpyamānān, na budhyase → न बुद्धवान्, variants). The automatic alignment left CE 7.126.11 unmatched.

Verse 12 (7.152.12)

यास्ता विलपतश्चापि विदुरस्य महात्मनः । धीरस्य वाचो नाश्रौषीः क्षेमाय वदतः शिवाः ॥

yāstā vilapataścāpi vidurasya mahātmanaḥ | dhīrasya vāco nāśrauṣīḥ kṣemāya vadataḥ śivāḥ

Nor did you listen to the gracious words that wise and great-souled Vidura spoke for your good, even as he lamented.

Verse 13 (7.152.13)

तदिदं वर्तते घोरमागतं वैशसं महत् । तस्यावमानाद्वाक्यस्य दुःशासनकृतेन च ॥

tadidaṃ vartate ghoramāgataṃ vaiśasaṃ mahat | tasyāvamānādvākyasya duḥśāsanakṛtena ca

This terrible and great calamity has now come upon us, from disregarding those words and from what Duhshasana did.

Verse 14 (7.152.14)

योऽवमन्य वचः पथ्यं सुहृदामाप्तकारिणाम् । स्वमतं कुरुते मूढः स शोच्यो नचिरादिव ॥

yo'vamanya vacaḥ pathyaṃ suhṛdāmāptakāriṇām | svamataṃ kurute mūḍhaḥ sa śocyo nacirādiva

The fool who spurns the wholesome advice of trustworthy friends and follows his own mind soon becomes an object of pity.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's main text; star passage 7.126.13d*1091_01-02 (printed after 7.126.13). The automatic alignment found no match. (The next CE star line, 7.126.13d*1092_01, is not on the page.)

Verse 15 (7.152.15)

यच्च नः प्रेक्षमाणानां कृष्णामानाय्य तत्सभाम् । अनर्हन्तीं कुले जातां सर्वधर्मानुचारिणीम् ॥

yacca naḥ prekṣamāṇānāṃ kṛṣṇāmānāyya tatsabhām | anarhantīṃ kule jātāṃ sarvadharmānucāriṇīm

And you had Krishna brought into that assembly while we looked on, though she did not deserve it, she who was born in a good family and followed every law of dharma.

Verse 16 (7.152.16)

तस्याधर्मस्य गान्धारे फलं प्राप्तमिदं महत् । नोचेत्पापं परे लोके त्वमृच्छेथास्ततोऽधिकम् ॥

tasyādharmasya gāndhāre phalaṃ prāptamidaṃ mahat | nocetpāpaṃ pare loke tvamṛcchethāstato'dhikam

O son of Gandhari, this great fruit of that wrong has now come to you; otherwise you would have met with even greater evil in the next world.

Verse 17 (7.152.17)

यच्च तान्पाण्डवान्द्यूते विषमेण विजित्य ह । प्राव्राजयस्तदाऽरण्ये रौरवाजिनवाससः ॥

yacca tānpāṇḍavāndyūte viṣameṇa vijitya ha | prāvrājayastadā'raṇye rauravājinavāsasaḥ

And you defeated the Pandavas at dice by foul play and sent them away to the forest, clad in the skins of ruru deer.

Verse 18 (7.152.18)

पुत्राणामिव चैतेषां धर्ममाचरतां सदा । द्रुह्येत्को नु नरो लोके मदन्यो ब्राह्मणब्रुवः ॥

putrāṇāmiva caiteṣāṃ dharmamācaratāṃ sadā | druhyetko nu naro loke madanyo brāhmaṇabruvaḥ

Who in the world, other than me, a brahmin in name only, would do harm to them, who have always practised dharma, as to sons?

Verse 19 (7.152.19)

पाण्डवानामयं कोपस्त्वया शकुनिना सह । आहृतो धृतराष्ट्रस्य सम्मते कुरु संसदि ॥

pāṇḍavānāmayaṃ kopastvayā śakuninā saha | āhṛto dhṛtarāṣṭrasya sammate kuru saṃsadi

It was you, together with Shakuni, who brought on this anger of the Pandavas in the assembly of the Kurus, with Dhritarashtra's consent.

Verse 20 (7.152.20)

दुःशासनेन संयुक्तः कर्णेन परिवर्धितः । क्षत्तुर्वाक्यमनादृत्य त्वयाऽभ्यस्तः पुनः पुनः ॥

duḥśāsanena saṃyuktaḥ karṇena parivardhitaḥ | kṣatturvākyamanādṛtya tvayā'bhyastaḥ punaḥ punaḥ

Joined by Duhshasana and nursed by Karna, you disregarded Kshatta's words and kept at it again and again.

Note on the text: Corrected त्वयाऽब्यस्तः → त्वयाऽभ्यस्तः (misprint in Wikisource; ब् for भ्; the critical edition reads tvayābhyastaḥ and the page's own commentary glosses अभ्यस्त).

Verse 21 (7.152.21)

स हि नः क्रोधवृक्षश्च कृतमूलो महात्मनाम् । तस्य पुष्पफले राजन्नुपभुङ्क्ष्व महाबल ॥

sa hi naḥ krodhavṛkṣaśca kṛtamūlo mahātmanām | tasya puṣpaphale rājannupabhuṅkṣva mahābala

That tree of anger of the great-souled ones has taken deep root; now, mighty king, enjoy its flowers and fruit.

Note on the text: Removed the wiki backtick and closing apostrophe with which Wikisource marks this verse as an addition. Not in the critical edition's main text; the two lines are its star passage 7.126.19d*1094_01-02 (printed after 7.126.19; स हि नः for tad dhi naḥ, a variant). The automatic alignment found no match.

Verse 22 (7.152.22)

यत्ताः सर्वे पराभूताः पर्यवारयतार्जुनम् । सिन्धुराजानमाश्रित्य स वो मध्ये कथं हतः ॥

yattāḥ sarve parābhūtāḥ paryavārayatārjunam | sindhurājānamāśritya sa vo madhye kathaṃ hataḥ

All of you, on guard though beaten back, held Arjuna ringed about, with the king of Sindhu in your keeping; how, then, was he slain in your midst?

Verse 23 (7.152.23)

कथं त्वयि च कर्णे च कृपे शल्ये च जीवति । अश्वत्थाम्नि च कौरव्य निधनं सैन्धवोऽगमत् ॥

kathaṃ tvayi ca karṇe ca kṛpe śalye ca jīvati | aśvatthāmni ca kauravya nidhanaṃ saindhavo'gamat

How could Saindhava meet his death while you, Karna, Kripa, Shalya and Ashvatthaman were all alive, O Kaurava?

Verse 24 (7.152.24)

युध्यन्तः सर्वराजानस्तेजस्विन उपासते । सिन्धुराजं परित्रातुं वो मध्ये कथं हतः ॥

yudhyantaḥ sarvarājānastejasvina upāsate | sindhurājaṃ paritrātuṃ vo madhye kathaṃ hataḥ

All the kings, fighting in their splendour, stood by to protect the king of Sindhu; how was he slain in your midst?

Verse 25 (7.152.25)

मय्येव हि विशेषेण तथा दुर्योधन त्वयि । आशंसत परित्राणमर्जुनात्स महीपतिः ॥

mayyeva hi viśeṣeṇa tathā duryodhana tvayi | āśaṃsata paritrāṇamarjunātsa mahīpatiḥ

It was in me above all, and in you, Duryodhana, that the king hoped to find protection from Arjuna.

Verse 26 (7.152.26)

ततस्तस्मिन्परित्राणमलब्धवति फल्गुनात् । न किञ्चिदनुपश्यामि जीवितस्थानमात्मनः ॥

tatastasminparitrāṇamalabdhavati phalgunāt | na kiñcidanupaśyāmi jīvitasthānamātmanaḥ

Now that he failed to find protection from Phalguna, I see no refuge left for my own life.

Verse 27 (7.152.27)

मज्जन्तमिव चात्मानं धृष्टद्युम्नस्य संयुगे । पश्याम्यहत्वा पाञ्चालान्सह तेन शिखण्डिना ॥

majjantamiva cātmānaṃ dhṛṣṭadyumnasya saṃyuge | paśyāmyahatvā pāñcālānsaha tena śikhaṇḍinā

Without having killed the Panchalas along with Shikhandi, I see myself in the battle as though sinking before Dhrishtadyumna.

Verse 28 (7.152.28)

तन्मां किमभितप्यन्तं वाक्शरैरेव कृन्तसि । अशक्तः सिन्धुराजस्य भूत्वा त्राणाय भारत ॥

tanmāṃ kimabhitapyantaṃ vākśaraireva kṛntasi | aśaktaḥ sindhurājasya bhūtvā trāṇāya bhārata

Why then do you cut me, already tormented, with the arrows of your words, when you yourself proved unable to protect the king of Sindhu, O Bharata?

Verse 29 (7.152.29)

सौवर्णं सत्यसन्धस्य ध्वजमक्लिष्टकर्मणः । अपश्यन्युधि भीष्मस्य कथमाशंससे जयम् ॥

sauvarṇaṃ satyasandhasya dhvajamakliṣṭakarmaṇaḥ | apaśyanyudhi bhīṣmasya kathamāśaṃsase jayam

When you no longer see in battle the golden banner of Bhishma, true to his word and untiring in his deeds, how can you hope for victory?

Verse 30 (7.152.30)

मध्ये महारथानां किं शेषं तत्र मन्यसे । हतो भूरिश्रवाश्चैव किं शेषं तत्र मन्यसे ॥

madhye mahārathānāṃ kiṃ śeṣaṃ tatra manyase | hato bhūriśravāścaiva kiṃ śeṣaṃ tatra manyase

What do you think is left there among the great chariot-warriors? Bhurishravas too is slain; what do you think is left there?

Note on the text: Line 1 differs from the critical edition (मध्ये महारथानां किं शेषं तत्र मन्यसे, repeating the refrain of line 2, where the CE has madhye mahārathānāṃ ca yatrāhanyata saindhavaḥ); good Sanskrit, so the page's reading is kept as a recension variant.

Verse 31 (7.152.31)

कृप एव च दुर्धर्षो यदि जीवति पार्थिव । यो नागात्सिन्धुराजस्य वर्त्म तं पूजयाम्यहम् ॥

kṛpa eva ca durdharṣo yadi jīvati pārthiva | yo nāgātsindhurājasya vartma taṃ pūjayāmyaham

If Kripa, hard to overcome, is still alive, O king, he who did not go the way of the king of Sindhu, I honour him.

Verse 32 (7.152.32)

यत्रापश्यं हतं भीष्मं पश्यतस्तेऽनुजस्य वै । दुःशासनस्य कौरव्य कुर्वाणं कर्म दुष्करम् ॥

yatrāpaśyaṃ hataṃ bhīṣmaṃ paśyataste'nujasya vai | duḥśāsanasya kauravya kurvāṇaṃ karma duṣkaram

When I saw Bhishma struck down, while he was performing a deed most hard to do, with your younger brother Duhshasana looking on, O Kaurava,

Note on the text: Lines 1–2 = CE 7.126.30ac. The automatic alignment left CE 7.126.30 unmatched (Wikisource divides this three-line CE verse into couplets).

Verse 33 (7.152.33)

अवध्यकल्पं सङ्ग्रामे देवैरपि सवासवैः । न ते वसुन्धराऽस्तीति तदाहं चिन्तये नृप ॥

avadhyakalpaṃ saṅgrāme devairapi savāsavaiḥ | na te vasundharā'stīti tadāhaṃ cintaye nṛpa

he who in battle was all but impossible to kill even for the gods with Vasava, then I thought: you have no earth left, O king.

Note on the text: Line 1 = CE 7.126.30e (the third line of the CE verse whose first two lines are verse 32); line 2 = CE 7.126.31a. The automatic alignment found no match.

Verse 34 (7.152.34)

इमानि पाण्डवानां च सृञ्जयानां च भारत । अनीकान्याद्रवन्ते मां सहितान्यद्य भारत ॥

imāni pāṇḍavānāṃ ca sṛñjayānāṃ ca bhārata | anīkānyādravante māṃ sahitānyadya bhārata

These armies of the Pandavas and the Srinjayas, O Bharata, are rushing upon me together today.

Note on the text: Corrected सृज्जयानां → सृञ्जयानां (misprint in Wikisource; ज्ज for ञ्ज; the critical edition reads sṛñjayānāṃ). Line 1 = CE 7.126.31c, line 2 = CE 7.126.31e. The automatic alignment found no match.

Verse 35 (7.152.35)

नाहत्वा सर्वपाञ्चालान्कवचस्य विमोक्षणम् । कर्ताऽस्मि समरे कर्म धार्तराष्ट्र हितं तव ॥

nāhatvā sarvapāñcālānkavacasya vimokṣaṇam | kartā'smi samare karma dhārtarāṣṭra hitaṃ tava

Until I have killed all the Panchalas, I shall not take off my armour; I shall do in battle, son of Dhritarashtra, the deed that is good for you.

Note on the text: Corrected पाञ्चलान् → पाञ्चालान् (misprint in Wikisource; a dropped ा; the critical edition reads pāñcālān).

Verse 36 (7.152.36)

राजन्ब्रूयाः सुतं मे त्वमश्वत्थामानमाहवे । न सोमकाः प्रमोक्तव्या जीवितं परिरक्षता ॥

rājanbrūyāḥ sutaṃ me tvamaśvatthāmānamāhave | na somakāḥ pramoktavyā jīvitaṃ parirakṣatā

O king, say this to my son Ashvatthaman in the battle: the Somakas must not be spared, whatever care you take of your life.

Verse 37 (7.152.37)

यच्च पित्राऽनुशिष्टोऽसि तद्वचः परिपालय । आनृशंस्ये दमे सत्ये चार्जवे च स्थिरो भव ॥

yacca pitrā'nuśiṣṭo'si tadvacaḥ paripālaya | ānṛśaṃsye dame satye cārjave ca sthiro bhava

Keep to what your father has taught you: be steadfast in compassion, self-control, truth and uprightness.

Verse 38 (7.152.38)

धर्मार्थकामकुशलो धर्मार्थावप्यपीडयन् । धर्मप्रधानकार्याणि कुर्याश्चेति पुनः पुनः ॥

dharmārthakāmakuśalo dharmārthāvapyapīḍayan | dharmapradhānakāryāṇi kuryāśceti punaḥ punaḥ

Skilled in dharma, artha and kama, and harming neither dharma nor artha, you should always do such deeds as put dharma first.

Verse 39 (7.152.39)

चक्षुर्मनोभ्यां सन्तोष्या विप्राः पूज्याश्च शक्तितः । न चैषां विप्रियं कार्यं ते हि वह्निशिखोपमाः ॥

cakṣurmanobhyāṃ santoṣyā viprāḥ pūjyāśca śaktitaḥ | na caiṣāṃ vipriyaṃ kāryaṃ te hi vahniśikhopamāḥ

Brahmins are to be pleased in eye and mind and honoured as far as you can; never do them any ill, for they are like tongues of fire.

Verse 40 (7.152.40)

एष त्वहमनीकानि प्रविशाम्यरिसूदन । रणाय महते राजंस्त्वया वाक्शरपीडितः ॥

eṣa tvahamanīkāni praviśāmyarisūdana | raṇāya mahate rājaṃstvayā vākśarapīḍitaḥ

And now, O slayer of foes, I enter the enemy armies for the great battle, wounded by the arrows of your words, O king.

Verse 41 (7.152.41)

त्वं च दुर्योधन बलं यदि शक्तोऽसि पालय । रात्रावपि च योद्धव्याः संरब्धाः कुरुसृञ्जयाः ॥

tvaṃ ca duryodhana balaṃ yadi śakto'si pālaya | rātrāvapi ca yoddhavyāḥ saṃrabdhāḥ kurusṛñjayāḥ

And you, Duryodhana, if you are able, guard the army; the Kurus and the Srinjayas, in their fury, must fight even at night.

Verse 42 (7.152.42)

एवमुक्त्वा ततः प्रायाद्द्रोणः पाण्डवसृञ्जयान् । मुष्णन्क्षत्रियतेजांसि नक्षत्राणामिवांशुमान् ॥

evamuktvā tataḥ prāyāddroṇaḥ pāṇḍavasṛñjayān | muṣṇankṣatriyatejāṃsi nakṣatrāṇāmivāṃśumān

Having spoken thus, Drona went against the Pandavas and the Srinjayas, taking away the brilliance of the kshatriyas as the sun takes the light of the stars.

Note on the text: Corrected पाण्वसृञ्जयान् → पाण्डवसृञ्जयान् (misprint in Wikisource; a dropped ड; the critical edition reads pāṇḍavasṛñjayān). Speaker fix: narration, so Sanjaya (the input carried Drona over). The CE star line 7.126.39d*1095_01 is not on the page.