Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 25
Śalya Installed as Commander; Coalition Agreement and Battle Arrays (शल्यसेनापत्यारोहणं व्यूहवर्णनं च)
मद्रराज: कृत: शल्यो धार्तराष्ट्रेण माधव । सेनापति्महेष्वास: सर्वसैन्येषु पूजित:
sañjaya uvāca |
madra-rājaḥ kṛtaḥ śalyo dhārtarāṣṭreṇa mādhava |
senāpatir mahā-iṣvāsaḥ sarva-sainyeṣu pūjitaḥ |
iti satyaṃ bravīmy eṣa duryodhana na saṃśayaḥ |
Sañjaya said: “O Mādhava, Śalya, the king of Madra, has been appointed by Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son (Duryodhana) as commander of the army—an eminent archer, honored among all the forces. This is the truth I tell you, O Duryodhana; there is no doubt.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds how authority in war is consolidated through appointment, reputation, and public honor; yet the insistence on “truth” (satya) also highlights the ethical tension of claiming certainty and victory amid a conflict driven by adharma and ambition.
Sañjaya reports that Śalya, king of Madra and a renowned archer, has been made the Kaurava commander by Duryodhana, and he emphasizes this as a definite, doubtless fact—setting the stage for the Kaurava battle leadership in the Shalya Parva.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.