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Shalya was an uncle of two of the Pandavas (Nakula and Sahadeva). Why did he fight on the side of the Kauravas then?

Also, if you could provide the Sanskrit Shlokas to support your answer, that would be great (although, not necessary).

Keshav Srinivasan
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Amit Saxena
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  • @sv.: I object to the use of mythology tag, I would rather use history – Amit Saxena May 02 '16 at 16:34
  • @sv.: Oh, I have read it alright. I do not agree to it. I do not agree to calling Ramayana and Mahabharata (Itihasas) as mythology. Anything else, you are welcome to tag as mythology: Puranas etc. :) – Amit Saxena May 02 '16 at 16:43
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    @sv.: I am well aware of that. I do not see a new discussion adding more value. In the end, I am not bound to keep a tag in my question. I assume that prerogative lays with person who is asking the question? :) – Amit Saxena May 02 '16 at 16:53
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    No, the prerogative doesn't lie with the person asking the question. Tags are chosen in order to properly classify the question so that they can be searched for easily. For instance, if someone wants to know about the stories of Krishna, as opposed to the teachings of Krishna, they can search Krishna and mythology and that will pull up all the questions about stories relating to Krishna found in the Mahabharata, Puranas, Harivamsa, etc. – Keshav Srinivasan May 02 '16 at 18:16
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    In any case, I believe that all the stories given in the Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana, and Mahabharata literally happened the way they're described, so in using the mythology tag I'm not casting any doubt about the truth of those stories. – Keshav Srinivasan May 02 '16 at 18:17
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    @KeshavSrinivasan: The most common usage of the word myth is 'a widely held but false belief or idea' . I am sure your intention is not to cast any doubt but it does. – Amit Saxena May 02 '16 at 18:24
  • The word myth has two meanings, "a widely held but false belief or idea" and ""a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events." The word mythology has to do with the second meaning of the word myth; it's not the study of widely held but false beliefs, it's the study of traditional stories typically concerning the early history... – Keshav Srinivasan May 02 '16 at 19:21
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    @KeshavSrinivasan: Sorry, I do not agree to that. The word mythology also will have two meaning as myth has. Also, the second meaning is a more tec hnical one used only by some of the academics. The first one is used by most of the layman, by normal people. – Amit Saxena May 02 '16 at 22:35
  • No, in English the word mythology is only connected to the non-pejorative use of the word myth. In any case, when a user hover over or clicks on the word mythology, they'll see exactly what the tag refers to, so there should be little ambiguity. – Keshav Srinivasan May 02 '16 at 22:51
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    We can discuss this more on Meta, but in the mean time please stop removing the mythology tag from your question until further notice. Like I said, the choice of tag isn't the prerogative of the person who posts the question, it's chosen in order to make the site's questions as a whole as easy to search for as possible. – Keshav Srinivasan May 02 '16 at 23:47
  • @KeshavSrinivasan: I have answered it here in the meta: http://meta.hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/352/my-concern-about-the-use-of-mythology-tag It already has 2 down-votes, so much resistance :P – Amit Saxena May 02 '16 at 23:51
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    @AmitSaxena We should consider this option. – B ї t May 03 '16 at 06:19
  • @Bїt: Thanks for the link. I would like to come back to this issue later when I have enough credentials and support from more users. ;) – Amit Saxena May 03 '16 at 06:32

1 Answers1

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Shalya was the king of Madra and brother of Pandu's wife Madri, so naturally he wanted to fight on the Pandava side. But when Shalya and his army came, they were greeted by Duryodhana's men, who provided them with food, lodging, and entertainment. Shalya assumed that Yudhisthira was responsible for all this, so he wanted to reward him for the hospitality. But then he found out that Duryodhana was the one responsible, so he was forced out of a sense of honor to reward Duryodhana, as described in this chapter of the Udyoga Parva of the Mahabharata:

And when Salya was exceedingly pleased and ready to grant even his life, Duryodhana, who had remained concealed, came forward and showed himself to his maternal uncle. And the kind of the Madras saw him and understood that it was Duryodhana who had taken all the trouble to receive him. And Salya embraced Duryodhana and said, 'Accept something that you may desire.' Duryodhana thereupon said, 'O thou auspicious one, let thy word be true, grant me a boon. I ask thee to be the leader of all my army.'

So Shalya was tricked into fighting on the Kaurava side, despite his love for the Pandavas. In the course of the war, he killed Abhimanyu's brother-in-law Uttara (as I discuss in this answer), served as thr charioteer of Karna, and finally became the general of the Kaurava side after Karna died. Ultimately Yudishthira was forced to kill Shalya, which must have been an agonizing decision.

It's important to note, by the way, that even while fighting for the Kaurava side, Shalya still supported the Pandavas, and while driving Karna's chariot during Karna's fight with Arjuna he tried to demoralize Karna as much as possible. Shalya was fundamentally a good person put into a terrible situation, forced to fight his own nephews even though he knew that their cause was just.

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Keshav Srinivasan
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    Awesome, the Karna part is rather interesting, I wonder if there is more to it there. – Amit Saxena May 02 '16 at 22:42
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    @AmitSaxena Thanks, I added the Uttara link. Regarding the Karna part, here's the request that Yudhishtira makes to Shalya in that Udyoga Parva chapter: "When, O best of kings, the single combat between Karna and Arjuna will take place, I have no doubt thou wilt have to drive Karna's car. On that occasion, if thou art inclined to do good to me, thou must protect Arjuna. O king, thou must likewise so act that the Suta's son Karna may be dispirited and the victory may be ours. Improper it no doubt is; but, O my uncle, for all that thou must do it." Shalya agrees to the request. – Keshav Srinivasan May 02 '16 at 22:47
  • Yup, I read that part. Although, I was wondering what exactly Shalya say or do to discourage someone like Karna. Also, how did Karna respond to this. I have asked a separate question regarding this: http://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/11817/how-did-shalya-discourage-karna-during-the-mahabharata-war – Amit Saxena May 02 '16 at 22:53