Shloka 86
Chapter 47: Krauñca-vyūha Deployment and Conch-Signals
Kaurava–Pāṇḍava Readiness
युधिछिर उवाच स एव मे वर: शल्य उद्योगे यस्त्वया कृत: । सूतपुत्रस्य संग्रामे कार्यस्तेजोवधस्त्वया,(त्वां हि योक्ष्यति सूतत्वे सूतपुत्रस्य मातुल । दुर्योधनो रणे शूरमिति मे नैष्ठिकी मति: ।।
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | sa eva me varaḥ śalya udyoge yas tvayā kṛtaḥ | sūtaputrasya saṅgrāme kāryas tejo-vadhas tvayā (tvāṃ hi yokṣyati sūtatve sūtaputrasya mātula | duryodhano raṇe śūram iti me naiṣṭhikī matiḥ) ||
Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „O Śalya, mein mütterlicher Onkel! Derselbe Segen, den du mir während der Kriegsvorbereitungen gewährt hast, ist es, den ich jetzt brauche. Wenn der Sohn des Wagenlenkers in die Schlacht tritt, musst du seinen Eifer untergraben. Denn ich bin fest überzeugt, o Onkel, dass Duryodhana in diesem Kampf einen Helden wie dich dazu bestimmen wird, als Wagenlenker des Sohns des Wagenlenkers zu dienen.“
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how vows and granted boons become binding moral instruments in war: Yudhiṣṭhira appeals to a prior promise and frames a strategic, ethically charged act—undermining an opponent’s confidence—as a duty arising from that commitment and kinship obligation.
Yudhiṣṭhira reminds Śalya of an earlier boon given during the war preparations and asks him to fulfill it by weakening Karṇa’s fighting spirit. He predicts that Duryodhana will place Śalya as Karṇa’s charioteer, making Śalya’s words and conduct a decisive factor in the coming confrontation.