Shloka 24

Devanagari script

हतस्तथैव मायावी हैडिम्बेनाप्यलायुध:

Transliteration

hatastathaiva māyāvī haiḍimbenāpyalāyudhaḥ

Translation

Vāyu said: “In the same way, the sorcerer Māyāvī too was slain—by Haiḍimba; and Alāyudha as well.” The statement recalls earlier encounters to underscore a moral pattern: those who rely on deceitful power and violent hostility ultimately meet a fitting end through the very forces they provoke, reinforcing the epic’s insistence that adharma, however formidable, is not a stable refuge.

Word by Word

हतःkilled, slain

तथाthus, in the same manner

एवindeed, just

मायावीMāyāvī (a proper name; the deceitful one)

हैडिम्बेनby Haiḍimba (Bhīma, descendant of Hiḍimbā)

अपिalso, even

अलायुधःAlāyudha (proper name)

Speaker

श्रीवायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyu (Vāyudeva)

Māyāvī

Haiḍimba

Alāyudha

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse points to a recurring ethical logic in the Mahābhārata: power grounded in deception and aggression (māyā used for adharma) is ultimately self-defeating. By citing the deaths of Māyāvī and Alāyudha, the speaker reinforces that wrongdoing does not secure lasting victory, and that moral order reasserts itself through consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu is recounting prior events as examples: Māyāvī was slain by Haiḍimba, and Alāyudha too met death. The line functions as a brief reminder of earlier rākṣasa conflicts, used to support the speaker’s broader point in the surrounding discourse.