Shloka 14
सैन्धवं मद्रराजानं राजानं च सुयोधनम् । वीरान् कृतास्त्रान् समरे सवनिवानिवर्तिन:
saindhavaṁ madrarājānaṁ rājānaṁ ca suyodhanam | vīrān kṛtāstrān samare savanivānivartinaḥ ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Da sind Jayadratha aus Sindhu, der König von Madra (Śalya) und König Suyodhana (Duryodhana) — Helden, in allen Waffen vollendet, wild in der Schlacht und niemals vom Kampf ablassend. Über solche großen Wagenkrieger—Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Kṛpa, Karṇa, den Sohn der Sonne, Aśvatthāmā, Bhūriśravas, Kṛtavarmā, Jayadratha, Śalya und König Duryodhana—wer sonst in dieser Welt, außer dir, könnte den Sieg erringen?“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ideal of kṣatriya steadfastness—warriors trained in arms who do not retreat—and uses praise to stress how extraordinary it would be to overcome such a concentration of renowned fighters. Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s tension between valor and the moral cost of war: excellence in battle is admired, yet it serves a destructive end.
Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the formidable Kaurava champions—Jayadratha, Śalya, Duryodhana and other famed mahārathas—emphasizing their skill and refusal to withdraw. He then poses a rhetorical question: who, besides the addressed hero (contextually a supreme warrior), could possibly defeat them?