Gurus & Bhargavas
Drona: Acharya of the Kurus
The princes’ acharya. Father of Ashwatthama. Slain in meditation after Yudhishthira’s half-truth.
Also called Dronacharya
Acharya of the Kurus
Who Drona is
Drona is born of Bharadvaja in a trough, husband of Kripi, father of Ashwatthama. Turned away by Drupada, he comes to Hastinapura and takes the princes as pupils. He asks a promise. Only Arjuna vows without knowing the task.
He makes Arjuna first. He takes Ekalavya’s thumb so that remains true. In the war he commands after Bhishma. He dies in meditation when Yudhishthira says Ashwatthama is dead, and Dhrishtadyumna takes the head.
Names and spellings
Canonical name in this graph: Drona. Common Mahabharat spellings and titles stay in the aliases rather than being repeated in every heading.
Parents
Spouses
Children
Teachers
In the recitation
- Yudhishthira — ‘Ashwatthama is dead’ — the elephant
- Drupada — school-friends, then the half-kingdom’s insult
- Ekalavya — the thumb
- Ashwatthama — the lie about the elephant named Ashwatthama
Narrative role
Adi Parva — the thumb Ekalavya, refused as a pupil, practises before a clay Drona. The princes’ dog comes back with a mouth full of arrows. Drona asks for the right thumb as dakshina. It is given.
The tournament He measures the ground. Arjuna does what the others cannot. Karna walks in. The rest of the epic is already standing there.
Drona Parva — day 15 Bhima kills an elephant named Ashwatthama. Yudhishthira, asked, says the name and then the word elephant so that truth is technically nearby. Drona lays the bow down.
How Drona is related
How is Drona related to Arjuna? The beloved pupil. The promise, the extra hours, the war in which that pupil’s brother must lie to kill him. Arjuna
How is Drona related to Ashwatthama? The son whose name is used as a weapon. The night slaughter is what the son does with the grief. Ashwatthama
How is Drona related to Drupada? Childhood friend who later humiliates him. Drona takes half the kingdom through the princes; Drupada’s fire-born children are the answer. Drupada
How is Drona related to Yudhishthira? The one man Drona will believe. That is why the half-truth works. Yudhishthira
Source notes
Mahabharata text (Adi Sambhava; Drona Parva), Ganguli. Last reviewed 12 September 2026.
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