Shloka 58

Śalya–Bhīma Gadā-saṃnipāta and Śalya’s Bāṇa-jāla against Yudhiṣṭhira

Book 9, Chapter 11

Devanagari script

गदया युद्धकुशलस्तया दारुणनादया

Transliteration

gadayā yuddhakuśalas tayā dāruṇanādayā

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Im Kampf mit der Keule bewandert, schritt er mit jener Waffe voran, deren schauriges Dröhnen die Wildheit des Zusammenstoßes verkündete—ein Bild der brutalen Kriegskunst, in der Können und Gewalt gemeinsam vorwärtsdrängen und oft die sanfteren Ansprüche des Dharma übertönen.

Word by Word

• गदया: with a mace
• गदया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गदा
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• युद्धकुशलः: skilled in battle
• युद्धकुशलः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: युद्धकुशल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तया: with that (one/it)
• तया: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• दारुणनादया: with a dreadful-sounding (one)
• दारुणनादया: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दारुणनाद
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• gadā (mace)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line highlights the ambivalence of kṣatriya excellence: mastery in arms can be admirable as discipline and duty, yet it also manifests as terrifying force. It invites reflection on how dharma is tested when skill serves destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a warrior characterized by expertise with the mace, emphasizing the weapon’s fearsome, resounding impact as the battle intensifies.