Shloka 34

Adhyāya 36: Ghora-yuddha-varṇanam

A Clinical Description of the Intensified Engagement

Devanagari script

यदुसदनमुपेन्द्रपालितं त्रिदशमिवामरराजरक्षितम्‌ | प्रसभमतिविलोड्‌्य को हरेत्‌ पुरुषवरावरजामृते<र्जुनात्‌

Transliteration

yadu-sadanam upendra-pālitaṁ tridaśam ivāmara-rāja-rakṣitam | prasabham ati-viloḍya ko haret puruṣa-vara-avarajām ṛte 'rjunāt ||

Translation

শল্য বললেন—“উপেন্দ্র (বিষ্ণু) দ্বারা রক্ষিত এবং দেবরাজ (ইন্দ্র) কর্তৃক সংরক্ষিত স্বর্গের ন্যায় সেই যাদব-দুর্গকে বলপূর্বক ভেঙে সম্পূর্ণ লুণ্ঠন করার ক্ষমতা—নরশ্রেষ্ঠের অনুজ অর্জুন ছাড়া—আর কার আছে?”

Word by Word

यत्which (that)

यदु-सदनम्the abode of the Yadus (Dvaraka)

उपेन्द्र-पालितम्protected by Upendra (Vishnu/Krishna)

त्रिदशम्the gods (lit. thirty)

इवlike, as

अमर-राज-रक्षितम्guarded by the king of the immortals (Indra)

प्रसभम्forcibly, violently

अति-विलोड्यhaving excessively plundered/overturned

कःwho?

हरेत्could take away / would seize

पुरुष-वर-अवरजाम्the younger sister of the best of men (Arjuna)

ऋतेwithout, except (with ablative)

अर्जुनात्from Arjuna

Speaker

शल्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śalya

Yadus (Yādavas)

Upendra (Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa)

Indra (Amararāja)

Arjuna

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores discernment in judging capability: truly extraordinary achievements require extraordinary agents. By likening the Yadu stronghold to heaven under divine protection, Śalya highlights that only a uniquely empowered hero (Arjuna) could accomplish such a breach—implying humility before proven excellence and the limits of ordinary force.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śalya, speaking in the Karṇa Parva context, emphasizes Arjuna’s exceptional prowess by posing a rhetorical question: who else could violently penetrate and plunder the Yādava seat, a place imagined as divinely guarded by Upendra and as secure as Indra’s heaven? The statement functions as pointed praise and as a strategic reminder of Arjuna’s unmatched strength.