Shloka 29
कर्णेन व्यूहविधानम् — Karṇa’s Battle Formation and the Pāṇḍava Counter-Plan
Adhyāya 31
(सारथ्यं क्रियतां तस्य युध्यमानस्य संयुगे ।) त्वया सारथिना होष अप्रधृष्यो भविष्यति । देवतानामपि रणे सशक्राणां महीपते । कि पुन: पाण्डवेयानां मा विशंकीर्वचो मम
sārathyaṁ kriyatāṁ tasya yudhyamānasya saṁyuge | tvayā sārathinā hoṣa apradhṛṣyo bhaviṣyati | devatānām api raṇe saśakrāṇāṁ mahīpate | ki punaḥ pāṇḍaveyānāṁ mā viśaṅkīr vaco mama ||
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “Akuin mo ang tungkulin bilang sais niya habang siya’y nakikipaglaban sa siksik ng digmaan. O hari! Kapag ikaw ang nagmamaneho ng kanyang karwahe, si Karṇa ay magiging di-malalapitan—di-matatalo kahit ng mga diyos sa labanan, pati ni Indra. Lalo pa kaya laban sa mga anak ni Pāṇḍu! Huwag mong pagdudahan ang aking mga salita.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the decisive role of support and skilled guidance in warfare: a warrior’s prowess is amplified or diminished by the charioteer’s competence and loyalty. Ethically, it also shows how persuasive counsel can inflate confidence and shape a king’s decisions, for good or ill.
Sañjaya, narrating events to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, urges the king to have the charioteer’s role taken up for Karṇa during battle, asserting that with such support Karṇa would be unbeatable even against the gods, let alone the Pāṇḍavas, and asks the king not to doubt this claim.