Shloka 45
शल्यस्य पाण्डवसेनापीडनम् — Śalya’s Assault on the Pāṇḍava Host
with Omens and Bhīma’s Counter
शुशुभे भरतश्रेष्ठो गिरिस्थ इव केसरी । तब सुतसोमके उस रथपर आरूढ़ हो भरतश्रेष्ठ नकुल पर्वतपर बैठे हुए सिंहके समान सुशोभित होने लगे ।।
śuśubhe bharataśreṣṭho giristha iva kesarī | tataḥ sutasomake tasmin rathopārūḍho bharataśreṣṭho nakulaḥ parvatopaviṣṭha iva siṃhaḥ suśobhitavān || anyat kārmukam ādāya suṣeṇaṃ samayodhayat | tau ubhau mahārathī vīrau bāṇavarṣair anyonyam āhṛtya paraspara-vadhāya yatnam akurvatām ||
Sañjaya dit : Nakula, le meilleur des Bhārata, monté sur le char de Sutasoma, resplendit tel un lion posté sur une montagne. Saisissant un autre arc, il engagea le combat contre Suṣeṇa. Ces deux mahārathas héroïques s’affrontèrent sous des pluies de flèches, chacun s’efforçant d’abattre l’autre.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds kṣatriya-ethics in wartime: steadfast courage, readiness, and skill are praised, yet the scene also underscores the grim inevitability of mutual destruction in a dharma-fractured conflict—valor operating within a tragic moral landscape.
Nakula mounts Sutasoma’s chariot and appears majestic like a mountain-lion. He takes up another bow and begins fighting Suṣeṇa; both are described as mahārathas exchanging dense showers of arrows, each attempting to kill the other.