Drona's Students Capture Drupada as His Fee
Drona assembles his students and demands his guru dakshina (teacher's fee): to capture King Drupada of Panchala alive. The princes, led by their teacher himself, arm their chariots, lay waste to the kingdom, and bring the humbled king before Drona.
One day, Drona gathered all his pupils together. He had taught them everything — the science of weapons, the strategies of war, the arts that made princes into warriors. Now it was time for his guru dakshina, the fee a student pays when his training is complete.
He told them what he wanted. "Capture Drupada, the king of Panchala, in a raid and bring him here to me. That will be my greatest dakshina."
They agreed. All of them — the Pandavas, the Kauravas, every prince who had trained under him — armed themselves with weapons and climbed into their chariots. Drona went with them. This was not a student exercise; it was a teacher leading his class to collect a debt.
They moved quickly. The force descended on Panchala, destroyed its defenses, and went straight to the capital of the immensely powerful Drupada. They attacked it directly. In the battle that followed, they captured Yajnasena Drupada and all his advisers. Then they brought the king, a prisoner of war, back to their teacher.