Shloka 50

Devanagari script

घटोत्कचेन क्रुद्धेन गदा हेमाड़दा तदा

Transliteration

ghaṭotkacena kruddhena gadā hemāḍḍā tadā

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Da ergriff Ghaṭotkaca, vom Zorn entflammt, seine Keule (gadā), reich mit Gold geschmückt. Die Zeile macht deutlich, wie sich auf dem Schlachtfeld Wut sogleich in gewaltsames Handeln verwandelt und den von Krieg entfesselten Kreislauf der Gewalt weiter anheizt.

Word by Word

घटोत्कचेनby Ghaṭotkaca

क्रुद्धेनbeing enraged / by the enraged (one)

गदाmace

हेमाङ्गदाgold-adorned (mace)

तदाthen

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Ghaṭotkaca

gadā (mace)

hema (gold)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how anger (krodha) rapidly manifests as destructive action in war. Ethically, it points to the peril of letting wrath govern one’s choices, since it fuels escalation and suffering even when the setting is a ‘duty-bound’ battlefield.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Ghaṭotkaca, provoked and furious, takes up (or is described as wielding) a gold-adorned mace, signaling an imminent, forceful attack and a rise in the intensity of the combat.