Shloka 31
कर्णभीमसमागमः | Karṇa–Bhīma Encounter
संजय उवाच तथेति राजन पुत्रस्ते सह कर्णेन मारिष । अब्रवीन्मद्रराजानं सर्वक्षत्रस्थ संनिधौ
sañjaya uvāca | tatheti rājan putras te saha karṇena māriṣa | abravīn madrarājānaṃ sarvakṣatrastha-sannidhau |
Sañjaya said: “So be it, O King. Your son, together with Karna, in the presence of the assembled Kshatriyas, addressed Shalya, the king of Madra, as if to say: ‘Very well—your condition is accepted.’”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Public acceptance of a condition (“tathā iti”) highlights how vows and agreements in a Kshatriya assembly become binding through speech and witness; in war-ethics, words spoken before peers carry moral and strategic consequences.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that Duryodhana, accompanied by Karna, addresses Shalya (king of Madra) before the gathered warriors and accepts the stipulated condition—formalizing an arrangement in the hearing of the Kshatriya assembly.