Shloka 5536
Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)
सर्वैरज्जै: समाश्शलिष्य प्रसुप्त इव चाभवत् | प्रियतमा कान्ताकी भाँति इस वसुधाका चिरकालतक उपभोग करनेके पश्चात् राजा शल्य मानो अपने सम्पूर्ण अंगोंस उसका आलिंगन करके सो गये थे
sarvair rajjaiḥ samāśliṣya prasupta iva cābhavat | priyatamā kāntākī bhānti as vasudhākā cirakālataka upabhoga karaneke paścāt rājā śalya mānoṃ apane sampūrṇa aṅgoṃs usakā āliṅgana karake so gaye the
Sañjaya said: Having embraced her with all his limbs, King Śalya became as though asleep—like a beloved wife after long enjoyment of the earth. The image suggests that, after prolonged possession and experience of sovereignty, he now lay still, as if the world itself had been fully clasped and then relinquished into rest.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the impermanence of worldly power and enjoyment: even after long possession of the earth (sovereignty and its pleasures), the king becomes still, as if asleep—hinting at the inevitable cessation that follows worldly experience.
Sañjaya describes King Śalya’s condition with a poetic simile: Śalya lies motionless, as though asleep, portrayed as having ‘embraced’ the earth fully after long enjoyment—an evocative way to depict his final stillness amid the war’s aftermath.