Shloka 18
ध्वजवर्णनम् | Dhvaja-varṇanam
Description of War Standards
तस्मिन् हि विजय: कृत्स्न: पाण्डवेन समाहित: । यदि नोड<स्ति कृतं किज्चिद् यदि दत्त हुतं यदि
tasmin hi vijayaḥ kṛtsnaḥ pāṇḍavena samāhitaḥ | yadi noḍ<sti kṛtaṃ kiñcid yadi datta hutaṃ yadi
Sañjaya said: “In that Pāṇḍava, indeed, the whole of victory is gathered and firmly secured. Even if nothing has been done, even if nothing has been given in charity, even if no oblation has been offered…”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores a conviction common in the epic’s war-narrative: victory is not merely a product of visible effort but is ‘gathered’ around a rightful agent. It hints that ritual merit (acts done, gifts given, oblations offered) is not the sole determinant; destiny, righteousness, and the moral center embodied by the Pāṇḍava are presented as decisive.
Sañjaya, reporting to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, emphasizes that complete victory is secured with the Pāṇḍava. The line continues with a rhetorical sequence—‘even if nothing has been done/given/offered’—to stress how strongly victory is believed to adhere to that side/person, regardless of conventional measures of merit.