तस्यार्जुनिर् ध्वजं छित्त्वा शल्यं त्रिभिर् अताडयत् ॥
तं शल्यो नवभिर् बाणैर् गार्ध्रपत्रैर् अताडयत् ॥
तस्यार्जुनिर् ध्वजं छित्त्वा उभौ च पार्ष्णिसारथी ॥
तं विव्याधायसैः षड्भिः सो ऽपक्रामद् रथान्तरम् ॥
tasyārjunir dhvajaṃ chittvā śalyaṃ tribhir atāḍayat ||
taṃ śalyo navabhir bāṇair gārdhrapatrair atāḍayat ||
tasyārjunir dhvajaṃ chittvā ubhau ca pārṣṇisārathī ||
taṃ vivyādhāyasaiḥ ṣaḍbhiḥ so 'pakrāmad rathāntaram ||
The son of Arjuna, having severed his [Ashvatthaman's] banner, struck Shalya with three arrows. Shalya struck him with nine vulture-feathered arrows. The son of Arjuna, having severed his [Shalya's] banner and both flanking charioteers, wounded him with six iron arrows; and he [Shalya] withdrew to another chariot.
dd135902ee03 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:30:04 PM UTC
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The youth forces even Shalya, king of the Madras, to retreat — yet another of the fiercest is compelled to change chariots to save himself. Thus the measure of his valor reveals itself: he overcomes not ordinary men but the foremost warriors, one after another, in honest battle. It is telling that all these defeats are inflicted before the foes resort to lawlessness: as long as the battle is honest, the youth is invincible. The verse teaches that in honest single combat the youth surpasses the fiercest warriors, and they retreat before him; that true valor prevails as long as the justice of battle is upheld; and that the tradition, showing the retreat of the mightiest before the youth one after another, thereby sharpens all the more the coming lawlessness — for no one overcame him by honor, and only by trampling dharma will six overcome one.