Shloka 19

Devanagari script

हत्वेमं पापकर्माणं गदया रणमूर्थनि । अद्यास्य शतधा देहं भिनझि गदयानया,'युद्धके मुहानेपर गदाके आघातसे इस पापीका वध करके आज इसी गदासे इसके शरीरके सौ-सौ टुकड़े कर डालूँगा

Transliteration

hatvemam pāpakarmāṇaṃ gadayā raṇamūrdhani | adyāsya śatadhā dehaṃ bhinajmi gadayānayā ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Having slain this evil-doer with the mace at the very forefront of the battle, today I will smash his body into a hundred pieces with this very mace.”

Word by Word

हत्वाhaving slain

इमम्this (man)

पापकर्माणम्of sinful deeds / evil-doer

गदयाwith a mace

रणमूर्धनिon the battlefield / at the battle-front

अद्यtoday

अस्यof him / his

शतधाinto a hundred parts

देहम्body

भिन्धिsplit! / pierce! (imperative)

गदयाwith the mace

अनयाwith this (f.)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

gadā (mace)

raṇa (battlefield)

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 illustrates how, in war, moral labeling (“evil-doer”) is used to legitimize extreme retaliation. It invites reflection on the tension between righteous duty in battle and the corrosive force of anger that pushes speech toward cruelty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a combatant’s fierce vow: after killing an opponent with a mace at the battle’s forefront, he intends to pulverize the fallen enemy’s body into many pieces with the same weapon—an expression of battlefield fury and vengeance.