Shloka 23
Bhīmasena’s Digvijaya and Tribute Return (भीमस्य दिग्विजयः धननिवेदनं च)
गृहीत्वा तु बल॑ सारं फाल्गुन: पाण्डुनन्दन: । दरदान् सह काम्बोजैरजयत् पाकशासनि:,पाण्डुनन्दन अर्जुनने अपने साथ शक्तिशालिनी सेना लेकर काम्बोजोंके साथ दरदोंको भी जीत लिया
gṛhītvā tu bala-sāraṃ phālgunaḥ pāṇḍu-nandanaḥ | daradān saha kāmbojair ajayat pākaśāsaniḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: Dann nahm Phālguna (Arjuna), der Sohn Pāṇḍus, die Quintessenz der Heereskraft mit sich und besiegte die Daradas zusammen mit den Kāmbojas — wie Indra (Pākaśāsani), der Züchtiger der Feinde.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames conquest as a function of disciplined royal power: a ruler (or royal agent) must employ the 'essence' of strength—trained, organized force—toward establishing political stability. The Indra-epithet suggests that power is ideally exercised as controlled chastisement of disorder rather than as uncontrolled violence.
During the wider campaign of subduing regions for imperial consolidation, Arjuna (Phālguna), leading an elite force, defeats the Daradas and also brings the Kāmbojas under control, being compared to Indra (Pākaśāsani) for his victorious, punitive might.