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 ।।
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 ||
Dijo Sañjaya: «Oh rey, me parece asombroso que, aun cuando Yudhiṣṭhira—sin pecado y de corazón puro—miró con ira a Śalya, señor de Madra, Śalya no fuese consumido ni reducido a cenizas. Entonces el magnánimo Yudhiṣṭhira, el más excelso de los Kurus, arrojó con ímpetu tremendo contra el señor de Madra aquella śakti llameante, de asta hermosa y terrible, cuyo fulgor se acrecentaba por las gemas preciosas engastadas en ella.»
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.