Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 12
Gadāyuddhe Kṛṣṇopadeśaḥ (Kṛṣṇa’s Counsel in the Mace-Duel) — Śalya-parva 57
यमदण्डोपमां गुर्वीमिन्द्राशनिमिवोद्यताम् । ददृशुः प्रेक्षका राजन् रौद्रीं विशसनीं गदाम्
yamadaṇḍopamāṃ gurvīm indrāśanim ivodyatām | dadṛśuḥ prekṣakā rājan raudrīṃ viśasanīṃ gadām ||
Sañjaya said: “O King, the onlookers beheld that mighty mace—heavy and dreadful like Yama’s staff, raised aloft like Indra’s thunderbolt—fierce and slaughtering, capable of tearing enemies apart. In this moment the poem underscores the terrifying momentum of war: strength and skill become instruments of death, and the battlefield’s spectacle draws even witnesses into awe at violence.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war magnifies human power into an impersonal force of death: the weapon is likened to Yama’s staff and Indra’s thunderbolt, reminding the listener that martial prowess, though admired, operates within a grim moral horizon where destruction is real and unavoidable.
Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra how spectators on the battlefield see a massive mace being lifted and brandished—so terrifying that it is compared to Yama’s staff and Indra’s vajra—signaling imminent, devastating blows in the ongoing combat.
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