Shloka 41
Śalya Installed as Commander; Coalition Agreement and Battle Arrays (शल्यसेनापत्यारोहणं व्यूहवर्णनं च)
यच्च ते तपसो वीर्य यच्च क्षात्रं बल॑ं तव | तद् दर्शय रणे सर्व जहि चैनं महारथम्,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” “राजन! आपका जो तपोबल और क्षात्रबल है, वह सब रणभूमिमें दिखाइये और इन महारथी शल्यको मार डालिये'
yacca te tapaso vīryaṃ yacca kṣātraṃ balaṃ tava | tad darśaya raṇe sarvaṃ jahi cainaṃ mahāratham iti satyaṃ bravīmy eṣa duryodhana na saṃśayaḥ |
Sañjaya said: “Whatever power you possess from austerity, and whatever strength you have as a warrior—display it all upon the battlefield. Strike down this great chariot-warrior. Duryodhana, I speak this to you as truth; there is no doubt.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield success as the outward test of inner discipline (tapas) and rightful warrior strength (kṣātra-bala). It highlights the kṣatriya ideal of proving one’s cultivated power through decisive action, while also revealing the moral pressure of war-counsel that urges killing a foremost opponent.
Sañjaya addresses Duryodhana, urging him to demonstrate his ascetic-earned potency and warrior strength in the fight and to bring down a leading enemy chariot-warrior (contextually Śalya). The speech functions as exhortation and reassurance—‘I speak the truth; there is no doubt.’