Shloka 36
Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)
स धर्मराजो निहताश्वसूत: क्रोधेन दीप्तो ज्वलनप्रकाश: । दृष्टवा च मद्राधिपतिं सम तूर्ण समभ्यधावत् तमरिं बलेन,धर्मराज युधिष्ठिरके घोड़े और सारथि मारे गये थे, इसलिये वे क्रोधसे उद्दीप्त हो प्रज्वलित अग्निके समान जान पढ़ते थे। उन्होंने अपने शत्रु मद्रराज शल्यको देखकर उनपर बलपूर्वक आक्रमण किया
sa dharmarājo nihatāśvasūtaḥ krodhena dīpto jvalanaprakāśaḥ | dṛṣṭvā ca madrādhipatiṃ śalyaṃ tūṛṇaṃ samabhyadhāvat tam ariṃ balena ||
Sañjaya said: King Yudhiṣṭhira, whose horses and charioteer had been slain, blazed with anger like a fire. Seeing Śalya, the lord of Madra, he rushed swiftly and forcefully against that enemy. The verse frames Yudhiṣṭhira’s surge of wrath as a human response within dharma-yuddha, where even the righteous are tested by grief and provocation.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the most dharmic person can be shaken by loss; the verse highlights how grief can ignite anger, and how the ethical challenge in war is to act with restraint and purpose rather than be ruled by wrath.
After Yudhiṣṭhira’s horses and charioteer are killed, he becomes fiercely enraged. Spotting Śalya, the Madra king, he charges at him with full force on the battlefield.