Shloka 24
Śalya Installed as Commander; Coalition Agreement and Battle Arrays (शल्यसेनापत्यारोहणं व्यूहवर्णनं च)
सैन्यस्य तव त॑ शब्दं श्रुत्वा राजा युधिष्ठिर: । वार्ष्णेयमब्रवीद् वाक््यं सर्वक्षत्रस्य पश्यत:,इति सत्य ब्रवीम्येष दुर्योधन न संशय: । “मैं रणभूमिमें कुन्तीके सभी पुत्रों और सामने आये हुए सोमकोंपर भी विजय प्राप्त कर लूँगा। इसमें भी संदेह नहीं कि मैं तुम्हारा सेनापति होऊँगा और ऐसे व्यूहका निर्माण करूँगा, जिसे शत्रु लाँघ नहीं सकेंगे। दुर्योधन! यह मैं तुमसे सच्ची बात कहता हूँ। इसमें कोई संशय नहीं है” उस समय आपकी सेनाका वह महान् हर्षनाद सुनकर राजा युधिष्ठिरने समस्त क्षत्रियोंके सामने ही भगवान् श्रीकृष्णसे कहा--
sainyasya tava taṁ śabdaṁ śrutvā rājā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | vārṣṇeyam abravīd vākyaṁ sarvakṣatrasya paśyataḥ || iti satyaṁ bravīmy eṣa duryodhana na saṁśayaḥ |
Sañjaya said: Hearing that resounding roar of your army, King Yudhiṣṭhira, in full view of all the assembled kṣatriyas, addressed Vārṣṇeya (Kṛṣṇa) with words that set the moral weight of the moment against the swelling confidence of war. The passage frames the battlefield not only as a contest of force but as a public arena where truth-claims, vows, and leadership are tested before the warrior community.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that in war, words and vows are not private; they are weighed publicly before the kṣatriya community. Truth-claims (satya) and confidence (na saṁśayaḥ) become ethical commitments, and leadership is judged not only by strength but by the integrity and consequences of one’s declarations.
Sañjaya reports that Yudhiṣṭhira hears the loud exultant roar of the Kaurava army. In response, and in the sight of all the warriors, he turns to Kṛṣṇa (called Vārṣṇeya) and speaks—setting up the next exchange in which Yudhiṣṭhira reacts to the enemy’s confidence and the battlefield’s shifting morale.