Shloka 256
शल्यस्य पाण्डवसेनापीडनम् — Śalya’s Assault on the Pāṇḍava Host
with Omens and Bhīma’s Counter
अतिष्ठत रणे वीर: क्रुद्धरूप इवान्तक: । सब ओरसे बाणोंद्वारा विद्ध होनेपर भी पाण्डुकुमार नकुल हर्ष और उत्साहमें भरे हुए वीर योद्धाकी भाँति दूसरा धनुष हाथमें लेकर बड़े वेगसे दूसरे रथपर जा चढ़े और कुपित हुए कालके समान रणभूमिमें खड़े हो गये
sañjaya uvāca | atiṣṭhata raṇe vīraḥ kruddharūpa ivāntakaḥ | sarvataḥ bāṇair viddho 'pi pāṇḍukumāro nakulaḥ harṣotsāhabhṛto vīrayoddhā iva dvitīyaṃ dhanuḥ pāṇau gṛhītvā mahāvegād anyasmin rathāroḍhuṃ samupacakrame, kupitaḥ kāla iva raṇabhūmau samatiṣṭhat |
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: Sa gitna ng labanan, tumindig nang matatag ang bayani, ang anyo’y nag-aalab sa galit na tila si Yama, ang Tagapagwakas. Bagama’t tinamaan ng mga palaso sa magkabilang panig, si Nakula—anak ni Pandu—na punô ng galak at sigasig, ay dumampot ng isa pang busog at, sa matinding bilis, umakyat sa isa pang karwaheng pandigma. Kaya, gaya ng Panahon kapag napukaw, nanatili siyang nakatindig sa larangan—di matinag sa tapang at pasya sa gitna ng dahas ng digmaan.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights kṣatriya steadfastness: even when wounded and surrounded by danger, a warrior committed to duty does not collapse into despair but gathers resolve, replaces what is lost (a bow, a chariot), and continues the fight with disciplined courage.
Sanjaya describes Nakula in the Shalya Parva battle: though struck by arrows from all sides, he remains exhilarated and determined, takes up a second bow, mounts another chariot, and stands in the fray with a fearsome, death-like intensity.