Shloka 34
शल्य–युधिष्ठिरयुद्धप्रारम्भः
Commencement of the Śalya–Yudhiṣṭhira Duel
मद्रराजस्तु सुभृशं विद्धस्तेन महात्मना । सात्यकिं प्रतिविव्याध चित्रपुड्खै: शितै: शरै:
madrarājas tu subhṛśaṃ viddhas tena mahātmanā | sātyakiṃ prativivyādha citrapuḍkhaiḥ śitaiḥ śaraiḥ ||
संजय बोले—उस महात्मा के बाणों से अत्यन्त घायल हुए मद्रराज ने भी विचित्र पंखों वाले तीक्ष्ण बाणों से सात्यकि को बेधकर प्रत्युत्तर दिया।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the battlefield ethic of retaliation—wounds invite counter-wounds. It implicitly shows how vengeance and martial reciprocity perpetuate suffering, even when performed within the accepted code of kṣatriya warfare.
After being severely wounded by a great warrior, the king of Madra (Śalya) strikes back, shooting Sātyaki with sharp, variegated-feathered arrows.