Shloka 35
आदित्यस्तेजसां श्रेष्ठो गिरीणां हिमवान् वर: । जातीनां ब्राह्मण: श्रेष्ठ: श्रेष्टस्त्व्मसि धन्विनाम्
ādityas tejasāṃ śreṣṭho girīṇāṃ himavān varaḥ | jātīnāṃ brāhmaṇaḥ śreṣṭhaḥ śreṣṭhas tvam asi dhanvinām ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Antara segala sumber cahaya, Matahari adalah yang terunggul; antara gunung-ganang, Himavān (Himalaya) adalah yang paling mulia; antara golongan masyarakat, Brāhmaṇa dianggap yang terbaik. Demikian juga, engkaulah yang terunggul antara semua pemanah.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Excellence is illustrated through culturally accepted exemplars (Sun among lights, Himalaya among mountains, Brāhmaṇa among jāti-s), culminating in the assertion of the addressed warrior’s supremacy among archers—praise used to steady confidence and affirm role-based dharma in the context of battle.
Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, delivers a laudatory comparison that elevates the addressed bowman as the foremost among dhanvins, using a sequence of well-known superlatives to intensify encouragement amid the Kurukṣetra war setting.