Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 24

Adhyāya 14: Śalya’s Missile-Pressure and the Pāṇḍava Convergence (शल्यस्य शरवर्षम्)

Devanagari script

अन्योन्यस्पर्धिनौ तौ तु शरै: संनतपर्वभि:

Transliteration

anyonyaspardhinau tau tu śaraiḥ saṃnataparvabhiḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: Those two, locked in mutual rivalry, assailed one another with arrows whose joints were well-bent and firm—each striving to outdo the other in the fierce discipline of battle.

Word by Word

• अन्योन्यस्पर्धिनौ: rivaling each other, mutually competing
• अन्योन्यस्पर्धिनौ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्योन्यस्पर्धिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• तौ: those two
• तौ: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• शरैः: with arrows
• शरैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• संनतपर्वभिः: having well-bent joints/knots (i.e., well-made)
• संनतपर्वभिः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संनतपर्वन्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• तौ (the two rival warriors, unnamed in this half-verse)
• शर (arrows)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the kṣatriya battlefield ethos: rivalry and the drive to surpass an equal opponent. Ethically, it points to how competitive pride (spardhā) intensifies violence, reminding readers that martial excellence can be inseparable from destructive escalation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes two warriors engaged in a direct contest, exchanging volleys of well-made arrows. The focus is on their mutual challenge and the technical ferocity of their combat.