Shloka 18
Indra-vijaya Upākhyāna and Śalya’s Assurance to Yudhiṣṭhira (इन्द्रविजयोपाख्यानम् — शल्ययुधिष्ठिरसंवादः)
क्षत्रियाणामभावो<यं युधिषछ्िर महात्मनाम् । दुर्योधनापराधेन भीमार्जुनबलेन च
śalya uvāca | kṣatriyāṇām abhāvo 'yaṁ yudhiṣṭhira mahātmanām | duryodhanāparādhena bhīmārjunabalena ca ||
शल्य उवाच—क्षत्रियाणामयं भावो युधिष्ठिर महात्मनाम्। दुर्योधनापराधेन भीमार्जुनबलेन च॥ महात्मनां क्षत्रियाणां विनाशस्यायमवसरः समुपस्थितः। वैशम्पायन उवाच—तदनन्तरं मद्रराजः श्रीमान् शल्यः सर्वान् कुन्तीकुमारान् विसृज्य सेनया सह दुर्योधनस्य समीपं जगाम।
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ethical causality in war: a leader’s wrongdoing (Duryodhana’s aparādha) can precipitate collective ruin, while even righteous strength (Bhīma and Arjuna’s bala) becomes an instrument of widespread destruction once conflict is set in motion.
Śalya addresses Yudhiṣṭhira, lamenting that circumstances have ripened for a catastrophic Kṣatriya slaughter, attributing the crisis to Duryodhana’s offense and to the formidable power of Bhīma and Arjuna that will inevitably be unleashed in war.