Shloka 39
शैनेयचरितम्
The Exploits of Śaineya/Sātyaki amid Encirclement
अजातशशत्रुं कौन्तेयं ज्वलन्तमिव पावकम् | मद्राणामी श्वर: शल्यो राजा राजानमावृणोत्,प्रजवलित अग्निके समान तेजस्वी अजातशशत्रु कुन्तीपुत्र राजा युधिष्ठिरका सामना मद्रदेशके स्वामी राजा शल्यने किया
sañjaya uvāca | ajātaśaśatruṃ kaunteyaṃ jvalantam iva pāvakam | madrāṇām īśvaraḥ śalyo rājā rājānam āvṛṇot ||
Sañjaya dit : Le roi Śalya, seigneur des Madras, s’avança pour affronter le roi Yudhiṣṭhira—fils de Kuntī, Ajātaśatru—qui flamboyait tel un feu ardent. Au cœur de la guerre, cette rencontre est peinte comme la confluence du devoir royal et de la détermination guerrière, lorsque des rois se font face, instruments de leurs serments d’allégeance et des vastes exigences du dharma sur le champ de bataille.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma in wartime: rulers bound by allegiance and duty must face one another directly. The imagery of fire underscores moral and martial intensity—courage and resolve are presented as necessary qualities when dharma is contested on the battlefield.
Sañjaya reports that Śalya, king of Madra, advances to confront Yudhiṣṭhira (Ajātaśatru), who is described as blazing like fire—signaling a major face-to-face clash among leading figures during the Drona Parva battle sequence.