Shloka 29
कर्णेन व्यूहविधानम् — Karṇa’s Battle Formation and the Pāṇḍava Counter-Plan
Adhyāya 31
(सारथ्यं क्रियतां तस्य युध्यमानस्य संयुगे ।) त्वया सारथिना होष अप्रधृष्यो भविष्यति । देवतानामपि रणे सशक्राणां महीपते । कि पुन: पाण्डवेयानां मा विशंकीर्वचो मम,'युद्धस्थलमें युद्ध करते समय कर्णके सारथिका कार्य सँभालिये। राजन! आपके सारथि होनेसे यह कर्ण रणभूमिमें इन्द्रसहित सम्पूर्ण देवताओंके लिये भी अजेय हो जायगा, फिर पाण्डवोंकी तो बात ही क्या है। आप मेरे इस कथनमें संदेह न कीजिये”
sārathyaṁ kriyatāṁ tasya yudhyamānasya saṁyuge | tvayā sārathinā hoṣa apradhṛṣyo bhaviṣyati | devatānām api raṇe saśakrāṇāṁ mahīpate | ki punaḥ pāṇḍaveyānāṁ mā viśaṅkīr vaco mama ||
Sañjaya said: “Take up the charioteer’s charge for him while he fights in the press of battle. With you as his driver, O king, Karṇa will become unassailable—invincible even to the gods in combat, Indra included. How much more, then, against the sons of Pāṇḍu? Do not doubt my words.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the decisive role of support and skilled guidance in warfare: a warrior’s prowess is amplified or diminished by the charioteer’s competence and loyalty. Ethically, it also shows how persuasive counsel can inflate confidence and shape a king’s decisions, for good or ill.
Sañjaya, narrating events to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, urges the king to have the charioteer’s role taken up for Karṇa during battle, asserting that with such support Karṇa would be unbeatable even against the gods, let alone the Pāṇḍavas, and asks the king not to doubt this claim.