Shloka 41
Bhīma–Duryodhana Gadāyuddha Saṃkalpa
Resolve for the Mace Duel
प्रजानामिव संक़्रुद्धं शूलपाणिमिव स्थितम् । हाथमें गदा लिये हुए दुर्योधनको पाण्डवोंने इस प्रकार देखा, मानो कोई शुंगयुक्त पर्वत हो अथवा प्रजापर कुपित होकर हाथमें त्रिशूल लिये हुए रुद्रदेव खड़े हों ।।
sañjaya uvāca | prajānām iva saṅkruddhaṃ śūlapāṇim iva sthitam | gadāpāṇiṃ duryodhanaṃ pāṇḍavāḥ samapaśyan yathā śṛṅgavat parvataṃ yathā vā prajāsu kupitaṃ rudraṃ triśūlapāṇim | sa-gado bhārato bhāti pratapan bhāskaro yathā | jalāt samutthitaṃ gadāpāṇiṃ mahābāhuṃ duryodhanaṃ dṛṣṭvā sarva-bhūtāni mene daṇḍadharaṃ yamaṃ prādurbhūtam iti ||
Sañjaya said: The Pāṇḍavas beheld Duryodhana standing with mace in hand—like Rudra himself, angered on behalf of creatures, poised with the trident; like a horned mountain risen before them. That Bharata hero, bearing the mace, shone like the blazing sun. Seeing the mighty-armed Duryodhana emerge from the water with his weapon, all beings felt as though Yama, the wielder of punishment, had manifested—an omen of relentless destruction in the moral darkness of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how war magnifies human wrath into something seemingly divine and inevitable: Duryodhana’s martial fury is likened to Rudra and Yama, suggesting that when adharma-driven conflict peaks, it takes on the force of destruction and punishment, overwhelming ordinary moral restraint.
Sañjaya describes the Pāṇḍavas seeing Duryodhana appear with his mace, shining like the sun and terrifying like Rudra with a trident or Yama with the staff of punishment—setting the tone for the climactic mace-fight atmosphere of Shalya Parva.