Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 29
Gadāyuddhe Kṛṣṇopadeśaḥ (Kṛṣṇa’s Counsel in the Mace-Duel) — Śalya-parva 57
ददृशुस्ते महाराज भीमसेनस्य तां गदाम् | राजेन्द्र! दर्शकोंने भीमसेनकी उस भयंकर गदाको इन्द्रके वज्ञ और यमराजके दण्डके समान उठी हुई देखा ।। आविध्यन्तं गदां दृष्टवा भीमसेनं तवात्मज:
dadṛśus te mahārāja bhīmasenasya tāṁ gadām | rājendra! darśakāḥ bhīmasenasya tāṁ bhayaṅkarāṁ gadām indrasya vajrasamaṁ yamarājasya daṇḍasamaṁ ca udyatāṁ dadṛśuḥ || āvidhyantaṁ gadāṁ dṛṣṭvā bhīmasenaṁ tavātmajaḥ |
Sañjaya said: O great king, the onlookers beheld Bhīmasena’s mace—terrible, raised aloft—like Indra’s thunderbolt and like Yama’s rod of punishment. Seeing Bhīmasena whirling that mace, your son (Duryodhana) looked on, confronted by the imminent force of retribution on the battlefield.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield power in moral-symbolic terms: Bhīma’s mace is likened to Indra’s vajra (divine force) and Yama’s daṇḍa (punitive justice), suggesting that violence in this climactic duel is also the working out of consequence and retribution within the epic’s dharmic horizon.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the spectators see Bhīma raising and whirling his fearsome mace. The description sets the scene for the decisive mace-fight atmosphere, with Duryodhana (the king’s son) facing Bhīma’s imminent attack.
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