Shloka 86
Chapter 47: Krauñca-vyūha Deployment and Conch-Signals
Kaurava–Pāṇḍava Readiness
युधिछिर उवाच स एव मे वर: शल्य उद्योगे यस्त्वया कृत: । सूतपुत्रस्य संग्रामे कार्यस्तेजोवधस्त्वया,(त्वां हि योक्ष्यति सूतत्वे सूतपुत्रस्य मातुल । दुर्योधनो रणे शूरमिति मे नैष्ठिकी मति: ।।) युधिष्ठिर बोले--मामाजी! जब युद्धके लिये उद्योग चल रहा था, उन दिनों आपने मुझे जो वर दिया था, वही वर आज भी मेरे लिये आवश्यक है। सूतपुत्रका अर्जुनके साथ युद्ध हो तो उस समय आपको उसका उत्साह नष्ट करना चाहिये। मामाजी! मेरा यह दृढ़ विश्वास है कि उस युद्धमें दुर्योधन आप-जैसे शूरवीरको सूतपुत्रके सारथिका कार्य करनेके लिये अवश्य नियुक्त करेगा
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | sa eva me varaḥ śalya udyoge yas tvayā kṛtaḥ | sūtaputrasya saṅgrāme kāryas tejo-vadhas tvayā (tvāṃ hi yokṣyati sūtatve sūtaputrasya mātula | duryodhano raṇe śūram iti me naiṣṭhikī matiḥ) ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O Śalya, the very boon you granted me during the preparations for war is what I now require. When the charioteer’s son enters battle, you must undermine his ardor. For I am firmly convinced, O maternal uncle, that in the fighting Duryodhana will appoint a hero like you to serve as the charioteer of the charioteer’s son.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how vows and granted boons become binding moral instruments in war: Yudhiṣṭhira appeals to a prior promise and frames a strategic, ethically charged act—undermining an opponent’s confidence—as a duty arising from that commitment and kinship obligation.
Yudhiṣṭhira reminds Śalya of an earlier boon given during the war preparations and asks him to fulfill it by weakening Karṇa’s fighting spirit. He predicts that Duryodhana will place Śalya as Karṇa’s charioteer, making Śalya’s words and conduct a decisive factor in the coming confrontation.