Shloka 55
Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)
प्रियया कान्तया कान्त: पतमान इवोरसि । उनके सारे अंग विदीर्ण हो गये थे तथा वे खूनसे नहा उठे थे। जैसे प्रियतमा कामिनी अपने वक्ष:स्थलपर गिरनेकी इच्छावाले प्रियतमका प्रेमपूर्वक स्वागत करती है, उसी प्रकार पृथ्वीने अपने ऊपर गिरते हुए नरश्रेष्ठ शल्यको मानो प्रेमपूर्वक आगे बढ़कर अपनाया था ।। चिरं भुक्त्वा वसुमतीं प्रियां कान्तामिव प्रभु:
priyayā kāntayā kāntaḥ patamāna ivorasi | ciraṁ bhuktvā vasumatīṁ priyāṁ kāntām iva prabhuḥ ||
Sañjaya said: As though a beloved woman were welcoming her lover to her breast, the earth seemed to receive Śalya as he fell upon her. Having long enjoyed the earth like a dear wife, the mighty lord now returned to her embrace—an image that frames the warrior’s death not merely as violence, but as a final, fated union with the very ground he had ruled and traversed.
संजय उवाच