Shloka 3
Book 9 (Śalya-parva), Adhyāya 13 — Arjuna’s Arrow-storm and the Drauṇi Confrontation
साधुवादो महाउ्जज्ञे सिद्धाश्चासन् प्रहर्षिता: । आश्षर्यमित्यभाषन्त मुनयश्लञापि सड्रता:,अकेले शल्यको अनेक महारथियोंद्वारा पीड़ित होते देख उनको सब ओरसे महान् साधुवाद प्राप्त होने लगा। वहाँ एकत्र हुए सिद्ध और महर्षि भी हर्षमें भरकर बोल उठे --आश्चर्य है!
sādhuvādo mahaujajñe siddhāś cāsan praharṣitāḥ | āścaryam ity abhāṣanta munayaś cāpi saṅgatāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: As Śalya stood alone, harried and wounded by many great chariot-warriors, a mighty chorus of acclaim rose from all sides. The Siddhas and the assembled sages, filled with exhilaration, cried out, “How wondrous!”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extraordinary valor and steadfastness in one’s appointed duty (kṣatriya-dharma) can draw public acclaim—even amid the harshness of war—while also reminding the reader that such praise is a reaction of onlookers, not necessarily a final moral verdict on the conflict itself.
Sañjaya reports that Śalya, though isolated and pressed by many great warriors, becomes the focus of widespread applause; celestial Siddhas and gathered sages, delighted, exclaim “āścaryam” (“How wondrous!”) at the spectacle of his prowess.