Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 26
Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)
(यददभुतं कर्म न शक््यमन्यै: सुदुःसहं तत् कृतवन्तमेकम् । शल्यं नरेन्द्रस्य विषण्णभावाद् विचिन्तयामास मृदड़केतु: ।।
sañjaya uvāca | yad adbhutaṃ karma na śakyam anyaiḥ suduḥsahaṃ tat kṛtavantam ekam | śalyaṃ narendrasya viṣaṇṇabhāvād vicintayāmāsa mṛdaṅgaketūḥ || kim etad indrāvarajasya vākyaṃ moghaṃ bhavaty adya vidhibalena | jahīti śalyaṃ hāvadat tad ājau na lokanāthasya vaco 'nyathā syāt ||
Disse Sañjaya: Vendo que Śalya, sozinho, realizara um feito maravilhoso e quase insuportável — algo que nenhum outro poderia ter feito —, Yudhiṣṭhira, cujo estandarte trazia o emblema de um tambor, caiu em desalento e refletiu: “Será que hoje, pela força do destino, as palavras de Kṛṣṇa, o irmão mais novo de Indra, se tornarão vãs? No campo de batalha ele exortou claramente: ‘Mata Śalya.’ A palavra do Senhor do mundo não deve resultar de outro modo.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharmic test under extreme pressure: when events seem to contradict righteous guidance, a leader’s inner steadiness is shaken. Yudhiṣṭhira’s anxiety—whether Kṛṣṇa’s counsel could become ‘mogha’ by fate—shows the ethical tension between trusting wise instruction and confronting the unpredictable force of destiny.
Sañjaya reports that Śalya has achieved a formidable battlefield success against Yudhiṣṭhira, plunging the king into dejection. Yudhiṣṭhira reflects that Kṛṣṇa had urged him to kill Śalya in battle and worries that, due to fate, those words might prove fruitless—an ominous moment of doubt amid the ongoing combat.