Shloka 55
कर्णेन व्यूहविधानम् — Karṇa’s Battle Formation and the Pāṇḍava Counter-Plan
Adhyāya 31
न कर्णो3 भ्यधिक सर्त्वत्तो न शड़्के त्वां च पार्थिव । न हि मद्रेश्वरो राजा कुर्याद् यदनृतं भवेत्
na karṇo 'bhyadhikaḥ sattvato na śaṅke tvāṃ ca pārthiva | na hi madreśvaro rājā kuryād yad anṛtaṃ bhavet ||
Sañjaya disse: “Não creio que Karṇa o supere em verdadeira proeza; nem duvido de ti, ó rei. Pois o rei Śalya, senhor de Madra, jamais faria algo que fosse falsidade ou que violasse seu voto de verdade.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds satya (truthfulness) as a defining royal virtue: a king renowned for truth will not act in a way that becomes anṛta (falsehood), even amid the pressures of war and rivalry.
Sañjaya reassures the addressed king by evaluating the warriors’ mettle and by affirming Śalya’s reliability: he neither grants Karṇa unquestioned superiority nor suspects the king, and he insists that Śalya, as lord of Madra, will not act contrary to truth or his pledged word.