Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c5.1028

c5.1028

1) Birth. Droṇa was the son of Bharadvāja who had his hermitage erected on the bank of the Ganges. Once Bharadvāja went to bathe in the river. When he got into the river he saw the celestial maid Ghṛtācī. The celestial maid ran away as soon as she saw the hermit. But her cloth was caught in grass and slipped off her body. When the hermit saw the complete form of her body which was bright and beautiful, he had seminal discharge. The discharged semen was kept in a Droṇa (trough). A child was born from that and he was named Droṇa, who was brought up in the hermitage. (M. B. Ādi Parva, Chapter 13).