Shloka 48
भारत! युद्धभूमिमें जिनकी समानता कोई भी नहीं कर सकता, उन विजयशील वीर कपिध्वज अर्जुनको जीतनेका साहस तीनों लोकोंमें कौन कर सकता है? ।। असंख्येया गुणा: पार्थे तद्विशिष्टो जनार्दन: । त्वमेव भूयो जानासि कुन्तीपुत्र॑ धनंजयम्,महाराज! अर्जुनमें असंख्य गुण हैं एवं भगवान् जनार्दन तो उनसे भी बढ़कर हैं। तुम भी कुन्तीपुत्र अर्जुनको अच्छी तरह जानते हो। जो दोनों महात्मा नर और नारायणके नामसे प्रसिद्ध हैं, वे ही अर्जुन और श्रीकृष्ण हैं। तुम्हें ज्ञात होना चाहिये कि वे दोनों पुरुषरत्न सर्वश्रेष्ठ वीर हैं
Bhārata! yuddhabhūmau yasyāḥ samatāṁ kaścid api na kartum arhati, taṁ vijayaśīlaṁ vīraṁ kapidhvajaṁ Arjunaṁ jetuṁ sāhasaṁ trailokye kaḥ kariṣyati? Asaṅkhyeyā guṇāḥ Pārthe, tad-viśiṣṭo Janārdanaḥ. Tvam eva bhūyo jānāsi Kuntīputraṁ Dhanañjayam, mahārāja. Yau dvau mahātmānau Nara-Nārāyaṇāv iti prasiddhau, tau evārjunaḥ Śrīkṛṣṇaś ca. Jñātavyaṁ te mahārāja, tau ubhau puruṣaratnau sarvaśreṣṭhau vīrau.
O scion of Bharata! Who in the three worlds could muster the courage to defeat Arjuna—the victorious hero with the monkey-banner—whose equal no one can find on the battlefield? In Pārtha there are countless excellences, and Janārdana surpasses even him. You, O great king, know well Dhanañjaya, the son of Kuntī. Indeed, those two great souls famed as Nara and Nārāyaṇa are none other than Arjuna and Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Know, O king, that these two jewel-like men are the foremost of warriors.
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores that Arjuna’s martial excellence is extraordinary, yet Kṛṣṇa’s greatness surpasses even that; together they embody the Nara–Nārāyaṇa ideal—human effort aligned with divine guidance—implying that righteous strength is most formidable when joined to dharma and divine wisdom.
Rāma addresses a Bharata/Kuru king and extols Arjuna as unmatched in battle, then elevates Kṛṣṇa as even greater, identifying the pair as the famed Nara and Nārāyaṇa, thereby warning that opposing them is futile and ethically fraught.