Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 31
Śalya Installed as Commander; Coalition Agreement and Battle Arrays (शल्यसेनापत्यारोहणं व्यूहवर्णनं च)
'भारत! नरेश्वर! मैं बहुत सोचनेपर भी युद्धपरायण शल्यके अनुरूप दूसरे किसी योद्धाको नहीं पा रहा हूँ |। शिखण्डयर्जुनभीमानां सात्वतस्य च भारत | धृष्टद्युम्नस्यथ च तथा बलेनाभ्यधिको रणे
bhārata! nareśvara! ahaṃ bahu cintayann api yuddha-parāyaṇa-śalyasya anurūpaṃ dvitīyaṃ kañcid yoddhāraṃ na paśyāmi | śikhaṇḍy-arjuna-bhīmānāṃ sātvatasya ca bhārata | dhṛṣṭadyumnasya ca tathā balenābhyadhiko raṇe, iti satyaṃ bravīmi eṣa duryodhana na saṃśayaḥ |
सञ्जय उवाच—भारत, नरेश्वर, बहु चिन्तयन्नपि युद्धपरायणस्य शल्यस्य सदृशं योद्धारमन्यं नाधिगच्छामि। शिखण्डिनमर्जुनं भीमं सात्यकिं धृष्टद्युम्नं च भारत, रणे बलेनाभ्यधिकः सः। एतत् सत्यं ब्रवीमि ते, दुर्योधन; न संशयः॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how assessments of martial strength and reputation shape wartime decisions; it also subtly warns that confidence built on comparisons of power can feed strategic and moral blindness, especially in a conflict already marked by adharma.
Sañjaya reports to the Kuru king (addressed as Bhārata/nareśvara) that Śalya is unmatched among the Kauravas in battle-mindedness and, in his view, exceeds major Pāṇḍava champions—Śikhaṇḍin, Arjuna, Bhīma, Sātyaki, and Dhṛṣṭadyumna—affirming this to Duryodhana without doubt.
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