Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 1

शल्यवधे कौरवसेनाभङ्गः, भीमस्य गदायुद्धं, दुर्योधनस्य समाह्वानम्

Rout after Śalya’s fall; Bhīma’s mace engagement; Duryodhana’s rally

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत शल्यपर्वमें शल्यका वधविषयक सत्रहवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ ॥/ १७ ॥। (दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठके ३ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल ९४ श्लोक हैं।) ऑपन-आक्रात छा 2 अष्टादशो< ध्याय: मद्रराजके अनुचरोंका वध और कौरव-सेनाका पलायन संजय उवाच शल्ये5थ निहते राजन्‌ मद्रराजपदानुगा: । रथा: सप्तशता वीरा निर्ययुर्महतो बलात्‌

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | śalye 'tha nihate rājan madrarāja-padānugāḥ | rathāḥ saptaśatā vīrā niryayur mahato balāt ||

Translation

Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “O Hari, nang mapatay si Śalya, pitong daang magigiting na mandirigmang nakasakay sa karwaheng pandigma—mga tagasunod ng panginoon ng Madra—ay lumusob palabas, tinutulak ng lakas ng kanilang malaking hukbo.”

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sañjaya said', 'śalye': 'Śalya (locative

• ‘in/when Śalya…’)', 'atha': 'then, thereafter', 'nihate': 'slain, killed (locative absolute sense with śalye)', 'rājan': 'O King (vocative

• addressed to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)', 'madrarāja': 'king of Madra (Śalya)', 'padānugāḥ': 'followers, those who go in the footsteps of (retainers/partisans)', 'rathāḥ': 'chariots

• chariot-warriors (metonymy)', 'saptaśatāḥ': 'seven hundred', 'vīrāḥ': 'heroes, valiant men', 'niryayuḥ': 'went out, sallied forth, advanced', 'mahataḥ': 'great, mighty (genitive/ablative with balāt)', 'balāt': 'from/through force

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Śalya
• Madra
• chariots (ratha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the kṣatriya ethos of loyalty and martial response: even after their leader’s fall, his followers surge forward, showing how allegiance and the momentum of war can compel action beyond personal grief or prudence.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Śalya, the king of Madra, is killed, his retainers—seven hundred chariot-warriors—advance from the strength and pressure of their forces, marking the immediate reaction within the battlefield sequence of Śalya Parva.