Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 22
Śalya Installed as Commander; Coalition Agreement and Battle Arrays (शल्यसेनापत्यारोहणं व्यूहवर्णनं च)
हृष्टा: सुमनसश्वलैव बभूवुस्तत्र सैनिका: । मेनिरे निहतान् पार्थान् मद्रराजवशं गतान्
hṛṣṭāḥ sumanasaś caiva babhūvus tatra sainikāḥ | menire nihatān pārthān madrarājavaśaṃ gatān iti satyaṃ bravīmy eṣa duryodhana na saṃśayaḥ ||
তেতিয়া সৈন্যসকল হৃষ্ট আৰু প্ৰসন্নচিত্ত হ’ল। তেওঁলোকে ভাবিলে—মদ্ৰৰাজ শল্যৰ বশত পৰি কুন্তীপুত্ৰসকল (পাণ্ডৱ) নিশ্চয়েই নিহত হ’ব। দুঃৰ্যোধন! এই কথা মই সত্য কৈছোঁ—সংশয় নাই।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a recurring Mahābhārata motif: in war, collective excitement and loyalty can turn into overconfidence, leading people to treat conjecture as certainty. Ethically, it cautions against triumphalism and the assumption that control over a key figure (here, Śalya) guarantees righteous or inevitable victory.
Sanjaya reports to Duryodhana that the troops, encouraged by the situation involving Śalya, become jubilant and conclude that the Pāṇḍavas will be killed because they are thought to be under Śalya’s influence. Sanjaya frames this as a confident assertion addressed to Duryodhana.
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