Shloka 12
उत्तरो बृहन्नडां सारथ्याय नियुङ्क्ते — Uttara Appoints Bṛhannadā as Charioteer
त्वया परिषदो मध्ये श्लाघते स नराधिप: । पुत्रो ममानुरूपश्व शूरश्वेति कुलोद्वह:,“वे सभामें आपसे प्रभावित होकर आपकी प्रशंसामें बड़ी-बड़ी बातें किया करते हैं। उनका कहना है--'मेरा यह पुत्र उत्तर मेरे अनुरूप शूरवीर और इस वंशका भार वहन करनेमें समर्थ है
tvayā pariṣado madhye ślāghate sa narādhipaḥ | putro mamānurūpaś ca śūraś ceti kulodvahaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: In the midst of the royal assembly, that king speaks in your praise, boasting about you. He declares, ‘This son of mine—Uttara—is like me, a true hero, and a worthy bearer of the weight and honor of our lineage.’
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how royal pride and public reputation are constructed in courtly settings: a king measures dynastic continuity through a son’s perceived valor and fitness to uphold the lineage. Ethically, it also hints at the gap that can exist between praise/boasting and tested capability.
Vaiśaṃpāyana reports that the king, in the royal assembly, repeatedly praises the person addressed (contextually Arjuna in disguise) and boasts that his son Uttara is like himself—brave and capable of sustaining the family’s honor—setting the stage for later events that test this claim.