सरहस्यो धनुर्वेदः सविसर्गोपसंयमः ।
अस्त्रग्रामश्च भवता शिक्षितो यदनुग्रहात् ॥४४॥

sarahasyo dhanur-vedaḥ
savisargopasaṁyamaḥ
astra-grāmaś ca bhavatā
śikṣito yad-anugrahāt

saplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsa

accompanied by; along with; he; her; that; with.-rahasyaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigrahasyaḥ

one who understands the intricacies of military art.—confidential; dhanuḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigdhanuḥ

a bow; arrows and bow; bow; by which the bow; his bow; the bow; the same bow; unto the bow.-vedaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigvedah

book of transcendental knowledge; the Vedas, books of knowledge; the Vedas; the original source of knowledge.—knowledge in the art of manipulating bows and arrows; saplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsa

accompanied by; along with; he; her; that; with.-visargaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigvisarga

and causes; and the creation; creation after the creation by the Lord; evacuating; of birth.—releasing; upasaṁyamaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigupasaṁyamaḥ

controlling.—controlling; astraplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigastra

arrows; bows and arrows; by the brahmāstra; of the arrows released by mantras; of weapons; the brahmāstra; the weapon of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra; weapon; weapons.—weapons; grāmaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_biggramah

all kinds of.—all kinds of; caplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigca

ca; all these; also; also other bodily forms; also that I have not been able to ask; and (the five gross material elements and the ten acting and knowledge-gathering senses); and; and also; and Devahūti; and for all; and the paraphernalia; as also; as much as; as well; as well as; but; certainly; either; however; indeed; only; or; over and above; respectively; the word ca; this word ca; thus; totally; unlimitedly; verily.—and; bhavatāplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigbhavata

all of you become.—by yourself; śikṣitaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigśikṣitaḥ

has been taught; learned.—learned; yatplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigyat

which; about whom; all these; all those; although; and as; and whichever; anything; as; as a matter of fact; as it is; as its; as much as; as they are; because; because of; because of which; because of whom; by the result of which; by the Supreme Lord; by which; by which way; by whom (the Supreme Lord); by whom; by whose; by whose merciful; even though; everything that was required; fixed under Your direction; for; for which; from both of whom; from him; from which; from whom; from whose; from Yuyudha; he whose; his; His eternal form which; his son; if; in which; in whom; inasmuch as; Kṛṣṇa; now further; of him (Somāpi); of him; of Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune; of the fire-gods; of the Lord; of the Supreme Lord; of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; of which (the intermediate space); of which; of whom (of the Supreme Lord); who; who is; whom; whose; whose form; Your.—by whose; anugrahātplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_biganugrahāt

by causeless mercy; by mercy; by the causeless mercy; by the favor of; by the mercy; by the mercy of; by the mercy or by drinking the breast milk; from the mercy; mercy of; the mercy.—mercy of.

It was by Droṇācārya’s mercy that you learned the military art of throwing arrows and the confidential art of controlling weapons.

Dhanur-veda, or military science, was taught by Droṇācārya with all its confidential secrets of throwing and controlling by Vedic hymns. Gross military science is dependent on material weapons, but finer than that is the art of throwing the arrows saturated with Vedic hymns, which act more effectively than gross material weapons like machine guns or atomic bombs. The control is by Vedic mantras, or the transcendental science of sound. It is said in the Rāmāyaṇa that Mahārāja Daśaratha, the father of Lord Śrī Rāma, used to control arrows by sound only. He could pierce his target with his arrow by only hearing the sound, without seeing the object. So this is a finer military science than that of the gross material military weapons used nowadays. Arjuna was taught all this, and therefore Draupadī wished that Arjuna feel obliged to Ācārya Droṇa for all these benefits. And in the absence of Droṇācārya, his son was his representative. That was the opinion of the good lady Draupadī. It may be argued why Droṇācārya, a rigid brāhmaṇa, should be a teacher in military science. But the reply is that a brāhmaṇa should become a teacher, regardless of what his department of knowledge is. A learned brāhmaṇa should become a teacher, a priest and a recipient of charity. A bona fide brāhmaṇa is authorized to accept such professions.