Book 9 of 18 · The Mahabharata

Shalya Parva

शल्य पर्व

Śalya Parva

The Book of Shalya

What is the Shalya Parva?

The Shalya Parva (शल्य पर्व) is the ninth of the eighteen books of the Mahabharata. Its name means “Book of Shalya”, and this site tells 39 stories drawn from it.

Shalya Parva Summary

The eighteenth and final day, under the brief command of Shalya, king of Madra, who is killed by Yudhishthira before noon. The Kaurava army disintegrates, Sahadeva kills Shakuni, and Duryodhana flees alone to hide beneath the waters of a lake. Balarama returns from a long pilgrimage along the Sarasvati, and the book pauses to retell the legends of every ford he visited. It closes with the mace duel between Bhima and Duryodhana, decided by a blow below the waist that Balarama condemns as a breach of the code.

What This Book Is About

  • collapse
  • pilgrimage
  • mace duel
  • the code
  • defeat

Sub-Books (Upaparvas) of the Shalya Parva

The Mahabharata divides itself into one hundred upaparvas; 4 of them belong to this book.

  1. Shalya-vadha ParvaThe Slaying of ShalyaSub-book 74 of 100
  2. Hrada-pravesha ParvaEntering the LakeSub-book 75 of 100
  3. Gada-yuddha ParvaThe Mace DuelSub-book 76 of 100
  4. Sarasvata ParvaOf the SarasvatiSub-book 77 of 100

Stories from the Shalya Parva

39 stories on this site are told inside this book, in canonical reading order.

  1. The King of MadraA good man bound by a rash promise to the wrong side 10 min
  2. The Fall of ShakuniSahadeva Keeps His Vow
  3. The Sage in the WellAbandoned by his brothers, he made a sacrifice from the pit 10 min
  4. Balarama's PilgrimageForty-Two Days on the Sarasvati While the World Burned
  5. Duryodhana's Last StandShalya, the Twins, and a King in a Lake 28 min
  6. The Fourth CommanderA nephew's water poured on an uncle's head at the foot of Himavat 18 min
  7. The Sons of the Sun Go DownNakula's one great hour, and the end of Karna's line 16 min
  8. Shalya Alone Against FiveThe last commander's one unanswerable morning 20 min
  9. The King on the Mountain of FleshOne elephant breaks an army, and two men bring it down 16 min
  10. Where the Carnage Did Not CeaseArjuna counts every point at which the war should have stopped 17 min
  11. The Last of the HundredBhima closes an eighteen-year account in a single afternoon 16 min
  12. The Oath Comes DueSusharman, his thirty-five sons, and the last of the sworn men 16 min
  13. The Men Who Carried the MeatA king's hiding place sold for a purse 16 min
  14. The River With Seven NamesWherever she was called, she came 16 min
  15. The Head That Would Not Let GoWhy the ford on the Sarasvati is called Kapalamochana 19 min
  16. The Pupil Who Could Not LearnYears in a teacher's house, and nothing to show for them 19 min
  17. The Kingdom Poured on the FireA sage is mocked with dead cattle and burns a realm with them 17 min
  18. The Head That Followed IndraA treaty kept to the letter and broken in every other way 16 min
  19. The Anointing of the War GodEvery god brings a gift to a six-day-old commander 21 min
  20. The Duel on the Southern BankTwo pupils of one teacher settle a war with clubs 21 min
  21. The Verdict at the Fallen KingBalarama's plough, Duryodhana's indictment, and the flowers that fell from the sky 17 min
  22. The Errand Before the GriefKrishna drives to Hastinapura to reach a mother before her curse does 16 min
  23. Duryodhana Rises from the LakeTaunted in the water, the last Kaurava comes up armed and asks for one man at a time 21 min
  24. The Last Words of DuryodhanaBroken-thighed on the field, the Kuru king laments his dead, sends his last words home, and names a general with a dying man's hand. 16 min
  25. The Eighteenth MorningChekitana takes a lance, Suratha takes a single arrow, and Duryodhana is carried off his own field by bolting horses 22 min
  26. The Seventeen HundredShalya's followers charge against orders, and Duryodhana's army breaks twice before he turns it round 19 min
  27. The Afternoon of the Eighteenth DaySatyaki takes Kritavarma's car again, Duryodhana holds the field alone, and the last elephants fall 22 min
  28. The Flight of the Royal LadiesThe last of the eleven armies dies, Duryodhana walks into a lake, and the Kaurava camp runs for Hastinapura 20 min
  29. The Lords of the Waters and the TreasuresBalarama walks the Sarasvati past the fords where Varuna, Kubera, Indra and Surya won what they hold 18 min
  30. The Plunder of the Kaurava CampThe victors ride into Duryodhana's empty tents, and Arjuna's chariot turns to ash 14 min
  31. The Muster of the Eighteenth DayAn oath never to fight alone, and the count of what was left of both armies 15 min
  32. Saraswati, the Vanishing RiverThe river of sages that hides in the sand
  33. The Boy Who Kept the VedasA twelve-year famine strips the Vedas from sixty thousand sages - except one boy fed by a river
  34. The Maiden Who Cooked the JujubesBadarapachana Tirtha - The Fire She Fed With Herself
  35. The Old Maiden's BargainAn ascetic's lifetime of tapas cannot buy her heaven until she takes a husband for one night
  36. The Teacher of MacesBalarama between his two pupils
  37. The Dice King's SonFathers' games, sons' funerals
  38. Kripa's Last ArgumentThe morning after Karna, somebody finally says stop
  39. The Count on the Nineteenth MorningEighteen armies, and the men who walked off the field

Where This Book Sits

The Shalya Parva is book 9 of the eighteen parvas. It follows the Karna Parva, the book of karna. The Sauptika Parva, the book of the sleeping warriors, comes next.

See all eighteen parvas of the MahabharataFollow the epic as a timeline