Shloka 55
कर्णेन व्यूहविधानम् — Karṇa’s Battle Formation and the Pāṇḍava Counter-Plan
Adhyāya 31
न कर्णो3 भ्यधिक सर्त्वत्तो न शड़्के त्वां च पार्थिव । न हि मद्रेश्वरो राजा कुर्याद् यदनृतं भवेत्
na karṇo 'bhyadhikaḥ sattvato na śaṅke tvāṃ ca pārthiva | na hi madreśvaro rājā kuryād yad anṛtaṃ bhavet ||
संजय बोले—हे पार्थिव! मुझे नहीं लगता कि सच्चे पराक्रम में कर्ण उससे बढ़कर है; और न ही मुझे आपके विषय में कोई संदेह है। मद्रदेश के स्वामी राजा शल्य ऐसा कोई कार्य नहीं करेंगे जो असत्य हो या उनकी सत्य-प्रतिज्ञा के विरुद्ध पड़े।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds satya (truthfulness) as a defining royal virtue: a king renowned for truth will not act in a way that becomes anṛta (falsehood), even amid the pressures of war and rivalry.
Sañjaya reassures the addressed king by evaluating the warriors’ mettle and by affirming Śalya’s reliability: he neither grants Karṇa unquestioned superiority nor suspects the king, and he insists that Śalya, as lord of Madra, will not act contrary to truth or his pledged word.