Shloka 8

Śalya-parva Adhyāya 34: Balarāma’s Withdrawal, Sarasvatī Pilgrimage Logistics, and Prabhāsa as Soma’s Renewal Tīrtha

Devanagari script

ततो युधिषिरो राजा परिष्वज्य हलायुधम्‌

Transliteration

tato yudhiṣṭhiro rājā pariṣvajya halāyudham

Translation

Sañjaya said: Then King Yudhiṣṭhira, embracing Halāyudha (Balarāma), voiced reverence and reconciliation amid the war’s moral strain—honouring an elder whose presence could steady dharma even when the battlefield had unsettled all certainties.

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद्
• Form: Avyaya (ablatival adverb: 'from that/thereafter')

• युधिष्ठिरः: Yudhiṣṭhira
• युधिष्ठिरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: युधिष्ठिर
• Form: Masculine, nominative, singular

• राजा: the king
• राजा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, nominative, singular

• परिष्वज्य: having embraced
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि-स्वज्
• Form: Absolutive (क्त्वा/ल्यप्), 'having embraced'

• हलायुधम्: Halāyudha (Balarāma), the one whose weapon is a plough
• हलायुधम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: हलायुध
• Form: Masculine, accusative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Halāyudha (Balarāma)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid violent conflict, dharmic conduct includes honouring elders and maintaining respectful bonds; an embrace here signals restraint, humility, and the attempt to preserve moral order when war threatens to erode it.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Yudhiṣṭhira approaches Balarāma (Halāyudha) and embraces him—an act of greeting and reverence that frames their interaction within kinship and ethical decorum despite the surrounding war.