Mahabharata 9.10.266 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 10, Shloka 266

शल्यस्य पाण्डवसेनापीडनम् — Śalya’s Assault on the Pāṇḍava Host

with Omens and Bhīma’s Counter

Devanagari script

रथं विशकलीकर्तु समारब्धौ विशाम्पते । राजन! प्रजानाथ! उन दोनों भाइयोंने झुकी हुई गाँठवाले बाणोंद्वारा नकुलके रथके टुकड़े-टुकड़े करनेकी चेष्टा आरम्भ की

Transliteration

rathaṁ viśakalīkartuṁ samārabdhau viśāmpate | rājan prajānātha |

Translation

சஞ்சயன் கூறினான்—மக்களுக்குத் தலைவனே, அரசே, குடிகளின் காவலனே! அந்த இரு சகோதரரும் வளைந்த முடிச்சுள்ள அம்புகளை எய்து, நகுலனின் தேரை துண்டு துண்டாகச் சிதைக்க முயற்சி தொடங்கினர்.

Word by Word

• रथम्: chariot
• रथम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• विशकलीकर्तुम्: to cut into pieces, to shatter
• विशकलीकर्तुम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: विशकलीकृ
• Form: Infinitive (Tumun), Parasmaipada (usage)

• समारब्धौ: having begun / having set about
• समारब्धौ: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आरभ्
• Form: Past passive participle (kta), Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• विशाम्-पते: O lord of the people
• Type: Noun
• Root: विशाम्पति
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• King (Dhṛtarāṣṭra, implied addressee)
• Nakula
• Two brothers (unnamed in this pāda-context)
• Chariot (ratha)
• Arrows (bāṇa, implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a wartime ethic where strategy often targets an opponent’s means of fighting—here, the chariot—showing how power and skill can be used to incapacitate rather than merely confront. It invites reflection on the moral tension between tactical necessity in dharma-yuddha ideals and the brutal realities of combat.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to the king that two brothers have begun an assault aimed at destroying Nakula’s chariot, using specialized bent or crooked-jointed arrows to break it apart and thereby weaken Nakula’s position in the battle.