Shloka 50

Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)

Devanagari script

सा तस्य मर्माणि विदार्य शुभ्र- मुरो विशालं च तथैव भित्त्वा विवेश गां तोयमिवाप्रसक्ता यशो विशाल नृपतेर्दहन्ती

Transliteration

sā tasya marmāṇi vidārya śubhraṃ uro viśālaṃ ca tathaiva bhittvā viveśa gāṃ toyam ivāprasaktā yaśo viśālaṃ nṛpater dahantī |

Translation

Sañjaya said: That bright spear, having torn through his vital points and likewise cleaving his broad, shining chest, sank into the earth like water that meets no obstruction—burning away the king’s vast fame. Its course was nowhere checked.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'sā', 'definition': 'she/that (here: that spear/śakti, feminine)'}, {'term': 'tasya', 'definition': 'of him (of Śalya)'}, {'term': 'marmāṇi', 'definition': 'vital spots

• vulnerable points of the body'}, {'term': 'vidārya', 'definition': 'having torn open

• rending'}, {'term': 'śubhram', 'definition': 'bright, white, shining'}, {'term': 'uraḥ', 'definition': 'chest, breast'}, {'term': 'viśālam', 'definition': 'broad, vast'}, {'term': 'bhittvā', 'definition': 'having split/cleft

• piercing through'}, {'term': 'viveśa', 'definition': 'entered

• sank into'}, {'term': 'gām', 'definition': 'the earth, ground'}, {'term': 'toyam', 'definition': 'water'}, {'term': 'iva', 'definition': 'like, as'}, {'term': 'aprasaktā', 'definition': 'unimpeded

• not hindered/checked'}, {'term': 'yaśaḥ', 'definition': 'fame, glory, renown'}, {'term': 'nṛpateḥ', 'definition': 'of the king'}, {'term': 'dahantī', 'definition': 'burning

• consuming (metaphorically: destroying reputation/glory)'}]

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Śalya
• śakti (spear/weapon)
• earth (gāṃ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the fragility of worldly glory (yaśas) in the face of inevitable death in war: even a mighty king’s renown can be ‘burned’ in an instant. It also reflects the epic’s ethical tension—kṣatriya duty drives combat, yet the cost is the swift undoing of life and reputation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a spear (śakti) striking Śalya: it tears through his vital points and chest and then, still unimpeded, sinks into the earth like flowing water—signifying the decisive, unstoppable force of the blow and the fall of the king’s greatness.