Shloka 34
Adhyāya 36: Ghora-yuddha-varṇanam
A Clinical Description of the Intensified Engagement
यदुसदनमुपेन्द्रपालितं त्रिदशमिवामरराजरक्षितम् | प्रसभमतिविलोड््य को हरेत् पुरुषवरावरजामृते<र्जुनात्
yadu-sadanam upendra-pālitaṁ tridaśam ivāmara-rāja-rakṣitam | prasabham ati-viloḍya ko haret puruṣa-vara-avarajām ṛte 'rjunāt ||
Śalya berkata: “Siapa, selain Arjuna—adik dari yang terbaik di antara manusia—yang mampu menerjang dengan paksa dan menjarah habis benteng kaum Yadu, yang dijaga oleh Upendra (Viṣṇu) dan dilindungi laksana surga di bawah pengawasan raja para dewa?”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.