Shloka 56
कर्णेन व्यूहविधानम् — Karṇa’s Battle Formation and the Pāṇḍava Counter-Plan
Adhyāya 31
ऋतमेव हि पूर्वास्ते वदन्ति पुरुषोत्तमा: | तस्मादार्तायनि: प्रोक्तो भवानिति मतिर्मम,“आपके पूर्वज श्रेष्ठ पुछष थे और सदा सत्य ही बोला करते थे, इसीलिये आप 'आर्तायनि” कहलाते हैं; मेरी ऐसी ही धारणा है
ṛtam eva hi pūrvās te vadanti puruṣottamāḥ | tasmād ārtāyaniḥ prokto bhavān iti matir mama ||
Sanjaya said: “Indeed, your forefathers—men of the highest worth—always spoke only what is true. Therefore, it is my understanding that you are called ‘Ārtāyani,’ because you stand in that lineage of truthfulness.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse upholds ṛta (truth/right order) as an inherited ethical ideal: noble lineage is marked not merely by birth but by steadfast truthfulness, which becomes a basis for honorific recognition.
Sanjaya addresses a respected person and explains an epithet—‘Ārtāyani’—by appealing to the reputation of that person’s forefathers as unwavering speakers of truth, thereby framing the addressee within a moral lineage.