Shloka 41
Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)
नरदेव! पापरहित, पवित्र अन्तःकरणवाले, राजा युधिष्ठिरके रोषपूर्वक देखनेपर भी मद्रराज शल्य जलकर भस्म नहीं हो गये, यह मुझे अद्भुत बात जान पड़ती है ।। ततस्तु शक्ति रुचिरोग्रदण्डां मणिप्रवेकोज्ज्वलितां प्रदीप्ताम् । चिक्षेप वेगात् सुभृशं महात्मा मद्राधिपाय प्रवर: कुरूणाम्,तदनन्तर कौरवशिरोमणि महात्मा युधिष्ठिरने सुन्दर एवं भयंकर दण्डवाली तथा उत्तम मणियोंसे जटित होनेके कारण प्रज्वलित दिखायी देनेवाली उस देदीप्यमान शक्तिको मद्रराज शल्यके ऊपर बड़े वेगसे चलाया
sañjaya uvāca | naradeva! pāparahitaḥ pavitrāntaḥkaraṇavān rājā yudhiṣṭhirasya roṣapūrvakaṃ dṛṣṭvāpi madrarājaḥ śalyaḥ na dagdhaḥ na ca bhasmībhūtaḥ—etan me adbhutaṃ pratibhāti || tataḥ tu śaktiṃ rucirogradaṇḍāṃ maṇipravekojjvalitāṃ pradīptām | cikṣepa vegāt subhṛśaṃ mahātmā madrādhipāya pravaraḥ kurūṇām ||
Sañjaya said: “O king, it seems wondrous to me that even when King Yudhiṣṭhira—pure in heart and free from sin—looked upon the ruler of Madra, Śalya, with anger, Śalya was not consumed or reduced to ashes. Then that great-souled Yudhiṣṭhira, foremost among the Kurus, hurled with tremendous force at the lord of Madra a blazing spear—its shaft fierce and beautiful, and its brilliance intensified by inlaid precious gems.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a righteous person may experience anger in the heat of war, yet the narrative highlights the tension between inner purity and the destructive impulse; it frames anger as powerful but not automatically decisive, and it points to the larger moral complexity of kṣatriya duty in battle.
Sañjaya reports to the king that it is astonishing Śalya is not ‘burned to ashes’ even under Yudhiṣṭhira’s wrathful gaze; immediately afterward, Yudhiṣṭhira hurls a blazing, gem-adorned spear (śakti) with great force at Śalya, escalating the combat.