Shloka 39

Devanagari script

अथ शल्यो गदापाणिरवतीर्य महारथात्‌ | शड्ुखस्य चतुरो वाहानहनद्‌ भरतर्षभ,भरतश्रेष्ठ! उस समय राजा शल्यने हाथमें गदा लिये अपने विशाल रथसे उतरकर शंखके चारों घोड़ोंको मार डाला

Transliteration

atha śalyo gadāpāṇir avatīrya mahārathāt | śaṅkhasya caturo vāhān ahanad bharatarṣabha ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Da stieg König Śalya, die Keule in der Hand, von seinem großen Wagen herab und erschlug die vier Pferde Śaṅkhas.

Word by Word

अथthen

शल्यःShalya

गदापाणिःmace-in-hand (holding a mace)

अवतीर्यhaving descended

महारथात्from the great chariot

शङ्खस्यof Shankha

चतुरःfour

वाहान्horses (draught-animals)

अहनत्struck/killed

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Śalya

Śaṅkha

gadā (mace)

mahāratha (great chariot)

vāhāḥ (four horses)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a harsh dimension of kṣatriya warfare: victory is pursued through tactical disabling of the enemy, even by targeting the chariot’s horses. It invites reflection on how dharma in war can become entangled with expediency, and how battlefield choices escalate suffering beyond the duel between warriors.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Śalya gets down from his chariot with a mace and kills the four horses of the warrior Śaṅkha’s chariot, effectively immobilizing him and shifting the fight’s balance.