Shloka 49
अहं मूर्धाभिषिक्तो हि राजर्षिकुलजो नृप:ः । महारथ: समाख्यात: सेव्य: स्तुत्यश्न वन्दिनाम्,मैं राजर्षियोंके कुलमें उत्पन्न हुआ मूर्द्धाभिषिक्त नरेश हूँ, विश्वविख्यात महारथी हूँ, सूतोंद्वारा सेव्य और वन्दीजनोंद्वारा स्तुतिके योग्य हूँ
ahaṁ mūrdhābhiṣikto hi rājarṣikulajo nṛpaḥ | mahārathaḥ samākhyātaḥ sevyaḥ stutyas ca vandinām ||
Śalya said: “I am a duly consecrated king, born in the lineage of royal seers. I am renowned as a great chariot-warrior, fit to be attended by bards and worthy of praise from panegyrists.”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how claims to honor and authority are grounded in consecration, lineage, and recognized merit; it also cautions that self-asserted status can become a tool of pride and conflict when ethical restraint is strained in wartime.
Śalya is speaking in the Karṇa Parva and asserts his identity as a crowned king of noble rājarṣi lineage and a famed mahāratha, insisting he deserves service and praise—an assertion of rank and reputation amid the charged interactions of the battlefield leadership.