Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 46
Śalya Installed as Commander; Coalition Agreement and Battle Arrays (शल्यसेनापत्यारोहणं व्यूहवर्णनं च)
बभूव पाण्डवेयानां सैन्यं च मुदितं नूप । सूतपुत्रस्य निधने जयं लब्ध्वा च मारिष
sañjaya uvāca |
babhūva pāṇḍaveyānāṁ sainyaṁ ca muditaṁ nṛpa |
sūtaputrasya nidhane jayaṁ labdhvā ca māriṣa |
iti satyaṁ bravīmy eṣa duryodhana na saṁśayaḥ ||
Sañjaya dit : «Ô roi, l’armée des fils de Pāṇḍu fut saisie de joie. Car, à la chute du fils du Sūta (Karna), ayant obtenu la victoire, elle se réjouit comme si elle avait franchi le péril du combat. Ainsi te dis-je la vérité, ô Duryodhana — il n’y a nul doute.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the fall of a single pivotal warrior can transform the moral and strategic atmosphere of a war: victory and confidence surge, and fear recedes. It also underscores the narrator’s insistence on truthful reporting amid propaganda and despair.
Sanjaya reports that after Karna (called the Sūta’s son) is killed, the Pāṇḍava forces feel they have secured victory and become openly jubilant, as though they have crossed beyond the most dangerous phase of the battle.
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