Shloka 34

Devanagari script

यदुसदनमुपेन्द्रपालितं त्रिदशमिवामरराजरक्षितम्‌ | प्रसभमतिविलोड्‌्य को हरेत्‌ पुरुषवरावरजामृते<र्जुनात्‌

Transliteration

yadu-sadanam upendra-pālitaṁ tridaśam ivāmara-rāja-rakṣitam | prasabham ati-viloḍya ko haret puruṣa-vara-avarajām ṛte 'rjunāt ||

Translation

શલ્ય બોલ્યો—“ઉપેન્દ્ર (વિષ્ણુ) દ્વારા સુરક્ષિત અને દેવરાજ (ઇન્દ્ર) દ્વારા રક્ષિત સ્વર્ગ સમાન તે યાદવોના ગઢને બળપૂર્વક તોડી સંપૂર્ણ રીતે લૂંટી લેવાની શક્તિ—નરશ્રેષ્ઠના અનુજ અર્જુન સિવાય—બીજા કોને છે?”

Word by Word

यत्which (that)

यदु-सदनम्the abode of the Yadus (Dvaraka)

उपेन्द्र-पालितम्protected by Upendra (Vishnu/Krishna)

त्रिदशम्the gods (lit. thirty)

इवlike, as

अमर-राज-रक्षितम्guarded by the king of the immortals (Indra)

प्रसभम्forcibly, violently

अति-विलोड्यhaving excessively plundered/overturned

कःwho?

हरेत्could take away / would seize

पुरुष-वर-अवरजाम्the younger sister of the best of men (Arjuna)

ऋतेwithout, except (with ablative)

अर्जुनात्from Arjuna

Speaker

शल्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śalya

Yadus (Yādavas)

Upendra (Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa)

Indra (Amararāja)

Arjuna

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores discernment in judging capability: truly extraordinary achievements require extraordinary agents. By likening the Yadu stronghold to heaven under divine protection, Śalya highlights that only a uniquely empowered hero (Arjuna) could accomplish such a breach—implying humility before proven excellence and the limits of ordinary force.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śalya, speaking in the Karṇa Parva context, emphasizes Arjuna’s exceptional prowess by posing a rhetorical question: who else could violently penetrate and plunder the Yādava seat, a place imagined as divinely guarded by Upendra and as secure as Indra’s heaven? The statement functions as pointed praise and as a strategic reminder of Arjuna’s unmatched strength.