Shloka 86
Chapter 47: Krauñca-vyūha Deployment and Conch-Signals
Kaurava–Pāṇḍava Readiness
युधिछिर उवाच स एव मे वर: शल्य उद्योगे यस्त्वया कृत: । सूतपुत्रस्य संग्रामे कार्यस्तेजोवधस्त्वया,(त्वां हि योक्ष्यति सूतत्वे सूतपुत्रस्य मातुल । दुर्योधनो रणे शूरमिति मे नैष्ठिकी मति: ।।
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | sa eva me varaḥ śalya udyoge yas tvayā kṛtaḥ | sūtaputrasya saṅgrāme kāryas tejo-vadhas tvayā (tvāṃ hi yokṣyati sūtatve sūtaputrasya mātula | duryodhano raṇe śūram iti me naiṣṭhikī matiḥ) ||
ユディシュティラは言った。「おおシャリヤ、母方の叔父よ。戦の支度の折にあなたが私に授けたその恩寵こそ、いま私が求めるものだ。御者の子が戦場に入るとき、あなたはその気勢を挫き、熱を冷まさねばならぬ。なぜなら私は固く信じている、叔父よ――その戦いでドゥルヨーダナは、あなたのような勇士を御者の子の御者として任じるであろうから。」
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how vows and granted boons become binding moral instruments in war: Yudhiṣṭhira appeals to a prior promise and frames a strategic, ethically charged act—undermining an opponent’s confidence—as a duty arising from that commitment and kinship obligation.
Yudhiṣṭhira reminds Śalya of an earlier boon given during the war preparations and asks him to fulfill it by weakening Karṇa’s fighting spirit. He predicts that Duryodhana will place Śalya as Karṇa’s charioteer, making Śalya’s words and conduct a decisive factor in the coming confrontation.