Shloka 52

Śalya Installed as Commander; Coalition Agreement and Battle Arrays (शल्यसेनापत्यारोहणं व्यूहवर्णनं च)

Devanagari script

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”

Transliteration

iti satyaṁ bravīmy eṣa duryodhana na saṁśayaḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: “Demikianlah aku menuturkan kebenaran kepadamu, wahai Duryodhana—tiada keraguan. Di medan perang aku akan mengalahkan semua putera Kuntī dan juga kaum Somaka yang tampil menghadap. Tiada ragu bahawa aku akan menjadi panglima tenteramu dan menyusun suatu vyūha (susunan perang) yang tidak dapat ditembusi musuh. Duryodhana! Aku berkata benar kepadamu—tiada keraguan.”

Word by Word

इतिthus

सत्यंtruth

ब्रवीमिI speak / I say

एषthis

दुर्योधनO Duryodhana

नnot

संशयःdoubt

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Duryodhana

Kuntī (implied in the cited prose context: ‘sons of Kuntī’)

Pāṇḍavas (implied: ‘sons of Kuntī’)

Somakas (implied in the cited prose context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how a speaker frames his claim as unquestionable truth (“no doubt”), inviting reflection on the ethics of certainty in war: confidence can be courage, but in an unrighteous cause it can also be self-deception that ignores dharma and consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a warrior’s emphatic assurance to Duryodhana, concluding a pledge to defeat the opposing side and to take up generalship while arranging a formidable vyūha (battle formation). This line functions as the closing stamp: “I am telling you the truth—no doubt.”