In the epic Mahabharata, Drona is the royal guru to the Kauravas and the Pandavas. He was a master of archery as well as various arts of combat. Arjuna was his favorite student. Drona's love for Arjuna was only second to his love for his son Ashwathama.

He lived in poverty in his youth, but studied combat together with the then prince Drupada. He was slighted by Drupada when Drupada became king of Panchala , and they held grudges against each other.

Drona became weapons master and teacher of the royal princes in combat and warfare at the court of Hastinapura. He married Kripi , the sister of Kripa, the priest to the court. Kripi and Drona had Ashwathama as as son. As a member of the Kaurava court, both father and son fought in the Kurukshetra war on the Kaurava side. Drona killed Drupada in the battle.

He was made the supreme commander of the Kauravas army after Bhishma laid paralyzed. Realizing that conventional methods would prove useless to neutralize Drona, the Pandavas conspired to devise a trick. During a battle, rumors were spread that his son Ashwathama, whom he loved so dearly, had been killed. Drona encountered Prince Yudhishtira, who was highy regarded for his honesty, and demanded that the prince tell him the truth. Yudhishtira told a lie (actually when he relented to do so, an elephant by the same name 'Ashwathama' was killed earlier, and Yudhishtira alluded to that instead), and Drona lost willingness to fight on, and eventually, live on. As he withdrew from battle, he was confronted by Dhrishtadyumna, Drupada's adopted son, who killed him.