तयोः समभवद् युद्धं समरे दृढधन्विनोः ॥
यादृशं ह्य् अभवद् राजञ् जम्भवासवयोः पुरा ॥
मद्रराजो महाराज विराटं वाहिनीपतिम् ॥
आजघ्ने त्वरितं तीक्ष्णैः शतेन नतपर्वणाम् ॥
प्रतिविव्याध तं राजा नवभिर् निशितैः शरैः ॥
पुनश् चैव त्रिसप्तत्या भूयश् चैव शतेन ह ॥
तस्य मद्राधिपो हत्वा चतुरो रथवाजिनः ॥
सूतं ध्वजं च समरे रथोपस्थाद् अपातयत् ॥
tayoḥ samabhavad yuddhaṃ samare dṛḍhadhanvinoḥ ||
yādṛśaṃ hy abhavad rājañ jambhavāsavayoḥ purā ||
madrarājo mahārāja virāṭaṃ vāhinīpatim ||
ājaghne tvaritaṃ tīkṣṇaiḥ śatena nataparvaṇām ||
prativivyādha taṃ rājā navabhir niśitaiḥ śaraiḥ ||
punaś caiva trisaptatyā bhūyaś caiva śatena ha ||
tasya madrādhipo hatvā caturo rathavājinaḥ ||
sūtaṃ dhvajaṃ ca samare rathopasthād apātayat ||
And Virata, with his army that had come swiftly for Drona's sake, the king of Madra covered with a flood of arrows, the archer. Between the two of them a battle arose, in the clash of two firm-bowed warriors, such as it was, O king, of Jambha and Vasava [Indra] of old. The king of Madra, O great king, swiftly struck Virata, the army commander, with a hundred sharp, smooth-jointed arrows. The king [Virata] pierced him in reply with nine sharp arrows, and again with seventy-three, and yet again with a hundred.
fc5443d8eaa8 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:49:34 PM UTC
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The battle of Shalya and Virata is likened to the clash of Jambha and Indra -- an earthly collision raised to the eternal war of gods and demons. It is telling that the aged Virata, king of the Matsyas, with whom the Pandavas once sheltered in exile, meets the terrible Shalya without hesitation. The verse teaches that valor does not count years: an old warrior, faithful to his alliance, stands in battle as an equal; devotion to duty gives strength where bodily might has already begun to fail.