Shloka 24

Devanagari script

हतस्तथैव मायावी हैडिम्बेनाप्यलायुध:

Transliteration

hatastathaiva māyāvī haiḍimbenāpyalāyudhaḥ

Translation

Vāyu said: “In the same way, the sorcerer Māyāvī too was slain—by Haiḍimba; and Alāyudha as well.”

Word by Word

• हतः: killed, slain
• हतः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हन् (धातु) → हत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: thus, in the same manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• एव: indeed, just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• मायावी: Māyāvī (a proper name; the deceitful one)
• मायावी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मायाविन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• हैडिम्बेन: by Haiḍimba (Bhīma, descendant of Hiḍimbā)
• हैडिम्बेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: हैडिम्ब (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• अपि: also, even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• अलायुधः: Alāyudha (proper name)
• अलायुधः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अलायुध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

श्रीवायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Vāyudeva)
• Māyāvī
• Haiḍimba
• Alāyudha

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse points to a recurring ethical logic in the Mahābhārata: power grounded in deception and aggression (māyā used for adharma) is ultimately self-defeating. By citing the deaths of Māyāvī and Alāyudha, the speaker reinforces that wrongdoing does not secure lasting victory, and that moral order reasserts itself through consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu is recounting prior events as examples: Māyāvī was slain by Haiḍimba, and Alāyudha too met death. The line functions as a brief reminder of earlier rākṣasa conflicts, used to support the speaker’s broader point in the surrounding discourse.