Shloka 2
अध्याय ८ — शल्यस्य सत्कारः, वरदानं, पाण्डवसमागमश्च (Śalya’s Reception, the Boon, and Meeting the Pāṇḍavas)
तस्य सेनानिवेशो5भूदध्यर्थमिव योजनम् । तथा हि विपुलां सेनां बिभर्ति स नरर्षभ:,नरश्रेष्ठ शल्य इतनी अधिक सेनाका भरण-पोषण करते थे कि उसका पड़ाव पड़नेपर आधी योजन भूमि घिर जाती थी
tasya senāniveśo 'bhūd adhyardham iva yojanam | tathā hi vipulāṃ senāṃ bibharti sa nararṣabhaḥ ||
Wika ni Vaiśampāyana: Ang himpilan ng kanyang hukbo ay lumaganap nang may kalahating yojana, sapagkat ang “toro sa mga tao” na iyon ay may kakayahang magtaguyod at magpanatili ng gayong kalawak na lakas. Ipinahihiwatig ng taludtod hindi lamang ang laki ng pagtitipon-militar, kundi pati ang bigat ng paglalaan ng suplay—isang lihim na sukatan ng kakayahan at pananagutan ng pinuno habang papalapit ang digmaan.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that the might of an army is inseparable from the duty of sustaining it. True leadership in a dharmic sense includes the capacity to provide, organize, and bear the material responsibility that accompanies power—especially when war is imminent.
Vaiśampāyana describes the scale of a military encampment: it covered roughly half a yojana. This is presented as evidence of how enormous the army was and how the leader—praised as a ‘bull among men’—could maintain and provision such a force.