Shloka 7
Rājagṛhe Magadheśvarasya yuddhāhvānam — Arjunena saṃyamaḥ
The Rājagṛha Challenge and Arjuna’s Restraint
त॑ चापि वशमानीय किरीटी पुरुषर्षभ: । निषादराज्ञो विषयमेकलव्यस्य जग्मिवान्,पुरुषप्रवर किरीटधारी अर्जुन दशार्णराज चित्रांगरको भी वशमें करके निषादराज एकलव्यके राज्यमें गये
taṁ cāpi vaśam ānīya kirīṭī puruṣarṣabhaḥ | niṣādarājño viṣayam ekalavyasya jagmivān ||
Вайшампаяна сказал: И его тоже приведя к покорности, Арджуна — увенчанный и лучший из мужей — направился в область царя нишадов Экалвьи.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dharma of kingship in the Ashvamedha context: the sacrificial horse’s unhindered passage symbolizes imperial authority, and resisting it invites subjugation. Arjuna’s action represents the enforcement of a ritual-political order rather than personal enmity.
Arjuna, escorting the Ashvamedha horse, has already subdued someone (implied from prior context) and then travels onward into the realm associated with the Niṣāda king Ekalavya, continuing the campaign of securing acknowledgments of Yudhiṣṭhira’s sovereignty.