Shloka 15

Devanagari script

तौ दृष्टवा मातुलस्तत्र विरथौ परवीरहा । अभ्यभाषत राधेयं मद्रराजोडनुकम्पया,शत्रुवीरोंका संहार करनेवाले मामा मद्रराज शल्यने उन दोनों भाइयोंको रथहीन हुआ देख कृपापूर्वक राधापुत्र कर्णसे कहा--

Transliteration

tau dṛṣṭvā mātulas tatra virathau paravīrahā | abhyabhāṣata rādhēyaṁ madrarājo ’nukampayā ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Seeing those two brothers there, now deprived of their chariots, their maternal uncle Śalya—the king of Madra, a slayer of enemy-heroes—addressed Rādheya (Karna) with compassion. The moment frames a brief pause in the violence of battle, where kinship and pity surface even amid the duty-bound harshness of war.

Word by Word

तौthose two (them)

दृष्ट्वाhaving seen

मातुलःmaternal uncle

तत्रthere

विरथौwithout chariots, chariotless

परवीरहाslayer of enemy-heroes

अभ्यभाषतspoke to, addressed

राधेयम्Radha's son (Karna)

मद्रराजःking of Madra (Shalya)

अनुकम्पयाwith compassion

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Śalya (Madrarāja, maternal uncle)

Karna (Rādheya)

two brothers (unnamed in this verse)

chariot (ratha)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even in a battlefield governed by kṣatriya-duty, human bonds and compassion can arise; the verse highlights how ethical feeling (anukampā) persists amid violence, complicating a purely ruthless view of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śalya, the king of Madra and maternal uncle, sees two brothers rendered chariotless and then speaks compassionately to Karna (Rādheya), marking a moment of counsel or reaction within the ongoing combat.