Shloka 24

शल्य–युधिष्ठिरयुद्धप्रारम्भः

Commencement of the Śalya–Yudhiṣṭhira Duel

Devanagari script

मद्रराजस्तत: क्रुद्ध: सात्यकिं नवभि: शरै: । विव्याध भूय: सप्तत्या शराणां नतपर्वणाम्‌

Transliteration

madrarājas tataḥ kruddhaḥ sātyakiṁ navabhiḥ śaraiḥ | vivyādha bhūyaḥ saptatyā śarāṇāṁ nataparvaṇām ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：于是摩陀罗王沙利耶怒火中烧，以九支节处弯曲之箭刺透萨底耶吉；继而又以七十箭再度重创他。

Word by Word

• मद्रराजः: the king of Madra (Shalya)
• मद्रराजः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मद्रराज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• क्रुद्धः: angry
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्रुद्ध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सात्यकिम्: Satyaki
• सात्यकिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सात्यकि
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• नवभिः: with nine
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नवन्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• शरैः: with arrows
• शरैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• विव्याध: pierced, wounded
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्यध्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), Third, Singular

• भूयः: again, further
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: भूयः

• सप्तत्या: with seventy
• Type: Noun
• Root: सप्तति
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• शराणाम्: of arrows
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• नतपर्वणाम्: having bent joints/knots (i.e., barbed/with curved nodes)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नतपर्वन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Śalya (Madrarāja, king of Madra)
• Sātyaki
• arrows (śara)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how anger (krodha) fuels escalation in conflict: once wrath takes hold, the impulse is to intensify harm rather than seek restraint, illustrating a moral warning embedded within the war narrative.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Śalya, the king of Madra, becomes enraged and strikes Sātyaki first with nine arrows and then with seventy more, severely wounding him in the ongoing battle.