Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 56

Chapter 59: Baladeva’s Censure, Keśava’s Restraint, and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Moral Accounting

Devanagari script

शिरश्न राजसिंहस्य पादेन समलोडयत्‌ | ऐसा कहकर भीमसेनने अपने बायें पैरसे उसके मुकुटको ठुकराया और उस राजसिंहके मस्तकपर भी पैरसे ठोकर मारा

Transliteration

śiraś ca rājasiṃhasya pādena samaloḍayat |

Translation

Sañjaya said: Bhīmasena, having spoken thus, struck down the crown with his left foot and then kicked the head of that “lion among kings.” The deed reveals the brutal climax of vengeance on the battlefield, where rage and retribution eclipse the courtesies traditionally owed to a fallen warrior.

Word by Word

• शिरः: head
• शिरः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिरस्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• राजसिंहस्य: of the king-lion (lion among kings)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजसिंह
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• पादेन: with (his) foot
• पादेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाद
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• समलोडयत्: he struck/kicked (violently)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + लुड्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bhīmasena (Bhīma)
• rājasiṃha (epithet for the fallen king/warrior)
• crown (mukuṭa, implied by the Hindi gloss)
• head

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how vengeance and fury in war can lead to acts that violate the ideal kṣatriya ethic of restraint and respect toward a defeated foe, inviting reflection on the moral costs of hatred even amid ‘just’ warfare.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates that Bhīma, after speaking, uses his left foot to knock away the fallen warrior’s crown and then kicks his head—an emphatic gesture of contempt and triumph at a climactic moment of the conflict.