Shloka 20

Śalya–Bhīma Gadā-saṃnipāta and Śalya’s Bāṇa-jāla against Yudhiṣṭhira

Book 9, Chapter 11

Devanagari script

शल्यस्तु शरवर्षेण वर्षन्निव सहस्रदूक्‌

Transliteration

śalyas tu śaravarṣeṇa varṣann iva sahasradṛk

Translation

لیکن شَلیہ ہزار نگاہوں والے بادل کی مانند تیروں کی بارش برسانے لگا۔

Word by Word

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

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

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

• वर्षन्: raining down (showering)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृष्
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इव: as if/like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• सहस्रदृक्: the thousand-eyed one (Indra)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्रदृश्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Śalya
• arrows (śara)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how martial excellence in war can become an overwhelming, almost natural-force-like violence; it invites reflection on the ethical tension between kṣatriya prowess and the destructive momentum of battle.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes Śalya in the thick of combat, releasing a dense shower of arrows, likened to rainfall, conveying his formidable presence and the intensity of the fighting.