The King of Madra

This is the tale of Shalya, the mighty king of Madra, who fought and fell on the last day of the war - a good man bound by obligation to the side his heart opposed, and the embodiment of the war's tragedy of divided loyalty. Shalya was the brother of Madri, the second wife of Pandu, and so he was uncle to the youngest Pandavas, Nakula and Sahadeva; and his sympathy and his love were with the sons of Pandu, his own kin, whom he wished to support in the coming war.

But Shalya was tricked into the Kaurava cause. As he marched with his army toward the Pandavas to join them, Duryodhana, learning of his coming, arranged lavish rest-houses and feasts all along his road, hosting Shalya's whole army in royal splendor, and concealing that it was he, Duryodhana, who was the host. Shalya, delighted with the hospitality and supposing it came from the Pandavas, declared that he would grant the giver of such hospitality any boon he wished. Then Duryodhana revealed himself as the host and claimed his boon: that Shalya fight on the Kaurava side. Shalya, bound now by his own rash promise and the sacred debt of hospitality accepted, was forced to grant it, though it broke his heart; and so the uncle of the Pandavas was bound to fight against his own beloved nephews.