Shloka 49

शल्यपरिघातः (Śalya Under Encirclement) — Mahābhārata, Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 12

Devanagari script

आवार्य पाण्डवं बाणैहन्तुकामो महाबल:

Transliteration

āvārya pāṇḍavaṃ bāṇair hantukāmo mahābalaḥ

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Par une pluie de flèches, il contint le Pāṇḍava et—désireux de le tuer—s’avança avec une grande puissance. Le vers souligne l’élan sombre de la guerre : la force martiale est dirigée par une volonté délibérée de détruire, montrant comment l’intention (kāma/saṅkalpa) mène l’action lorsque la retenue s’effondre au combat.

Word by Word

• आवार्य: having warded off / having checked
• आवार्य: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ√वृ (वृञ्) / आवार्य (क्त्वान्त कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त (अव्ययभावे), कर्तरि, पूर्वकाल (absolutive)

• पाण्डवम्: the Pandava (Arjuna/Pandava warrior)
• पाण्डवम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• बाणैः: with arrows
• बाणैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाण
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• हन्तुकामः: desiring to kill
• हन्तुकामः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हन्तु-काम (काम)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महाबलः: mighty/very strong
• महाबलः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाबल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• पाण्डव (a Pāṇḍava warrior)
• बाण (arrows)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that in war, actions are propelled not only by capability (mahābala) but by intention (hantukāma). Ethically, it draws attention to the inner motive behind violence—how a resolved desire to kill turns strength and skill into instruments of destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that a powerful warrior halts a Pāṇḍava’s advance by striking or hemming him in with arrows, doing so with the explicit aim of killing him, indicating an intense close phase of combat.