Shloka 386

शल्यपरिघातः (Śalya Under Encirclement) — Mahābhārata, Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 12

Devanagari script

अन्योन्यवधसंयुक्तमन्योन्यप्रीतिवर्धनम्‌ । फिर तो एक-दूसरेके वधकी इच्छावाले उभयपक्षके सैनिकोंमें घोर युद्ध होने लगा। सभी एक-दूसरेके संहारके लिये सचेष्ट थे और वह युद्ध उनकी पारस्परिक प्रसन्नताको बढ़ा रहा था

Transliteration

anyonyavadhasaṁyuktam anyonyaprītivardhanam |

Translation

Sañjaya said: The battle became one of mutual slaughter—each side intent on killing the other—yet it also heightened their exhilaration in combat. Thus the warriors strove for one another’s destruction as the fighting grew ever more terrible.

Word by Word

• अन्योन्यवधसंयुक्तम्: joined with mutual slaughter (i.e., involving killing one another)
• अन्योन्यवधसंयुक्तम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्योन्य-वध-संयुक्त
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• अन्योन्यप्रीतिवर्धनम्: increasing mutual delight/ardor (of one another)
• अन्योन्यप्रीतिवर्धनम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्योन्य-प्रीति-वर्धन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a moral and psychological paradox of war: reciprocal hatred and the drive to kill can simultaneously generate a perverse mutual exhilaration. It implicitly warns how violence escalates by feeding on itself, blurring ethical restraint as combat becomes self-reinforcing.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield atmosphere: both armies are locked in fierce engagement, each striving to destroy the other. The fighting intensifies, and the warriors’ mutual contest heightens their martial excitement even as it leads to greater slaughter.