Shloka 59

शल्यपरिघातः (Śalya Under Encirclement) — Mahābhārata, Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 12

Devanagari script

शल्य: सायकवर्षेण पर्जन्य इव वृष्टिमान्‌

Transliteration

śalyaḥ sāyakavarṣeṇa parjanya iva vṛṣṭimān

Translation

サञ्जयは語った。シャリヤは矢の雨を注ぎ、まるで降雨を司る雲パルジャニヤが豪雨を降らすかのようであった。この譬えは、戦の狂熱において武の威力が、圧倒的で偏りなき自然の力に似ることを示す。

Word by Word

• शल्यः: Shalya
• शल्यः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शल्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सायकवर्षेण: with a shower of arrows
• सायकवर्षेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सायकवर्ष
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• पर्जन्यः: a rain-cloud (Parjanya)
• पर्जन्यः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर्जन्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इव: like, as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• वृष्टिमान्: rainy, possessing rain; raining
• वृष्टिमान्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वृष्टिमत्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śalya
• Parjanya
• arrows (sāyaka)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how the violence and intensity of war can be portrayed through natural metaphors: a warrior’s arrow-storm becomes like rain. Ethically, it suggests the battlefield’s momentum can feel as inexorable as nature—prompting reflection on the human cost when skill is directed toward destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes Śalya in combat, releasing such a dense barrage of arrows that it resembles a heavy rainfall, likening him to Parjanya, the rain-bringer.