Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 10
Śalya Installed as Commander; Coalition Agreement and Battle Arrays (शल्यसेनापत्यारोहणं व्यूहवर्णनं च)
जय राजंश्रविरञ्जीव जहि शत्रून् समागतान् | तव बाहुबल प्राप्य धार्तराष्ट्रा महाबला:
sañjaya uvāca | jaya rājan śravirañjīva jahi śatrūn samāgatān | tava bāhubala-prāpya dhārtarāṣṭrā mahābalāḥ | iti satyaṃ bravīmy eṣa duryodhana na saṃśayaḥ ||
संजय ने कहा— हे राजन्, हे श्रविरञ्जीव! एकत्र हुए शत्रुओं को जीतकर मार गिराओ। तुम्हारे बाहुबल को पाकर महाबली धृतराष्ट्र-पुत्र अवश्य प्रबल होंगे। दुर्योधन! मैं यह सत्य कहता हूँ— इसमें कोई संशय नहीं।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how martial exhortation and assurances of victory are used to harden resolve in war. Ethically, it highlights the tension between confidence grounded in physical power (bāhubala) and the larger Mahābhārata concern that victory and legitimacy ultimately depend on dharma, not merely force.
Sañjaya reports an exhortation addressed to the king and to Duryodhana: the speaker urges the king to defeat the assembled enemies and asserts that, supported by the king’s arm-strength, the Dhṛtarāṣṭras (Kauravas) will be victorious—stating this as a certain truth without doubt.
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