Mahabharata 9.19.28 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 19, Shloka 28
Śālva’s Elephant Assault and the Counterstroke (शाल्वस्य नागारूढाभ्यवहारः)
(लाभस्तेषां जयस्तेषां कुतस्तेषां पराभव: । येषां नाथो हृषीकेश: सर्वलोकवि भुर्हरिः ।।
lābhas teṣāṃ jayas teṣāṃ kutaḥ teṣāṃ parābhavaḥ | yeṣāṃ nātho hṛṣīkeśaḥ sarvalokavibhur hariḥ ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Keuntungan milik mereka, kemenangan milik mereka—bagaimana mungkin kekalahan menjadi milik mereka? Kerana tuan dan pelindung mereka ialah Hṛṣīkeśa, Hari, penguasa yang meliputi segala alam. Di mana ada tuan sedemikian, kejayaan mengiringi, dan kejatuhan tidak dapat berakar.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts that true success is grounded in alignment with the divine and dharma: those who have Hari (Kṛṣṇa), the all-pervading lord and controller of the senses, as their protector cannot ultimately be overcome. It frames victory not merely as military strength but as the moral-spiritual consequence of rightful guardianship and inner mastery.
Sañjaya, narrating the battlefield events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, emphasizes the inevitability of the Pāṇḍavas’ success because Kṛṣṇa stands with them as their lord and guide. The statement functions as a reflective judgment on the war’s momentum and on the deeper cause behind outcomes.
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