Shloka 67
Bhīma–Duryodhana Gadāyuddha Saṃkalpa
Resolve for the Mace Duel
योत्स्ये5हं संगरं प्राप्प विजेष्ये च रणाजिरे
yotsye’haṁ saṅgaraṁ prāpya vijeṣye ca raṇājire | raṇakṣetre meṁ pahuṁcakara maiṁ tumameṁse kisī ekake sātha yuddha karūṁgā aura merā viśvāsa hai ki samarāṅgaṇameṁ vijaya pāūṁgā | puruṣasiṁha! āja maiṁ suvarṇapatrajāṭita gadāke dvārā vairake us pār pahuṁca jāūṁgā, jahāṁ jānā kisīke liye bhī atyanta kaṭhina hai ||
Sanjaya said: “Having reached the battlefield, I shall fight in this clash and I shall win in the press of war. On the field of battle I will engage one of you, and I am confident of victory in the arena of combat. O lion among men, today with my mace adorned with golden plates I shall cross beyond enmity—into that realm which is exceedingly hard for anyone to reach.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the kṣatriya ideal of unwavering resolve in battle, yet it also hints at the moral cost of vaira (enmity): the speaker frames victory and even death as a ‘crossing beyond enmity,’ suggesting that the culmination of hatred is often the irreversible threshold of destruction.
A warrior, introduced through Sanjaya’s narration, issues a confident challenge: he will enter the battlefield, fight one of the opponents, and win. He emphasizes his weapon—a gold-adorned mace—and declares that today he will pass beyond the realm of enmity, implying a decisive, potentially fatal confrontation.