Shloka 8
Śalya–Yudhiṣṭhira Duel and the Discharge of the Śakti (शल्यवधप्रसङ्गः)
भीमसेनने हाथमें गदा लेकर राजा दुर्योधनको रोका और सेनासहित कदुन्तीपुत्र युधिष्ठिरने शल्यको ।। ततः समभवत् सैन्यं संसक्त तत्र तत्र ह । तावकानां परेषां च संग्रामेष्वनिवर्तिनाम्,तत्पश्चात् संग्राममें पीठ न दिखानेवाले आपके और शत्रुपक्षके योद्धाओंकी वह सेना जहाँ-तहाँ परस्पर युद्ध करने लगी
sañjaya uvāca | bhīmasenena hastaṁ gādāṁ gṛhītvā rājānaṁ duryodhanaṁ rurodha, senāsahitaś ca kuntīputro yudhiṣṭhiraḥ śalyaṁ | tataḥ samabhavat sainyaṁ saṁsaktaṁ tatra tatra ha, tāvakānāṁ pareṣāṁ ca saṅgrāmeṣv anivartinām ||
Sañjaya said: Bhīmasena, taking his mace in hand, checked King Duryodhana; and Kuntī’s son Yudhiṣṭhira, supported by his troops, checked Śalya. Thereupon the armies of both sides—unyielding in battle and refusing to turn their backs—became locked in combat in many places, each engaging the other wherever they met.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kshatriya ideal of steadfastness in battle—warriors who do not retreat—while implicitly reminding the listener that such valor operates within the larger moral tragedy of the Kurukshetra war, where duty, loyalty, and consequence collide.
Bhima blocks Duryodhana with mace in hand, and Yudhishthira, supported by his troops, checks Shalya. As these key confrontations form, the wider armies on both sides become interlocked in scattered, intense engagements across the battlefield.