Shloka 39
शैनेयचरितम्
The Exploits of Śaineya/Sātyaki amid Encirclement
अजातशशत्रुं कौन्तेयं ज्वलन्तमिव पावकम् | मद्राणामी श्वर: शल्यो राजा राजानमावृणोत्,प्रजवलित अग्निके समान तेजस्वी अजातशशत्रु कुन्तीपुत्र राजा युधिष्ठिरका सामना मद्रदेशके स्वामी राजा शल्यने किया
sañjaya uvāca | ajātaśaśatruṃ kaunteyaṃ jvalantam iva pāvakam | madrāṇām īśvaraḥ śalyo rājā rājānam āvṛṇot ||
Sañjaya said: King Śalya, lord of the Madras, confronted King Yudhiṣṭhira—the son of Kuntī, Ajātaśatru—who blazed like a flaming fire. In the midst of war, the encounter is framed as a meeting of royal duty and martial resolve, where kings face one another as instruments of their pledged allegiance and the larger demands of dharma in battle.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma in wartime: rulers bound by allegiance and duty must face one another directly. The imagery of fire underscores moral and martial intensity—courage and resolve are presented as necessary qualities when dharma is contested on the battlefield.
Sañjaya reports that Śalya, king of Madra, advances to confront Yudhiṣṭhira (Ajātaśatru), who is described as blazing like fire—signaling a major face-to-face clash among leading figures during the Drona Parva battle sequence.