Shloka 11
Book 3, Āraṇyaka-parva — Adhyāya 19: Pradyumna’s Reproach of Withdrawal and the Ethics of Kṣātra Reputation
सो<5पसव्यां चमूं तस्य शाल्वस्य भरतर्षभ । चकार नातियत्नेन तदद्भुतमिवाभवत्,भरतकुलभूषण! दारुकके पुत्रने अनायास ही शाल्वकी उस सेनाको अपस्व्य (दाहिने) कर दिया। यह एक अदभुत बात हुई
so 'pasavyāṃ camūṃ tasya śālvasya bharatarṣabha | cakāra nātiyatnena tad adbhutam ivābhavat ||
Vāyu said: “O bull among the Bharatas, he turned Śālva’s battle-array to the right (i.e., made it move in the reverse/inauspicious direction) with no great exertion. It appeared as something wondrous.” In the narrative frame, the feat highlights effortless mastery in battle—skill and presence of mind overcoming sheer numbers—while also implying the moral weight of strategy: victory can hinge on disciplined competence rather than brute force.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores that disciplined skill and strategic clarity can achieve decisive results with minimal exertion; it also gestures to the cultural symbolism of direction (apasavya) as a marker of reversal or inauspicious turning, intensifying the sense of a fateful shift in battle.
Vāyu describes a warrior’s feat: Śālva’s army formation is made to turn ‘apasavya’—to the right/reversed direction—quickly and with ease, and the onlookers regard the maneuver as astonishing.