Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 106
यथाहं भीमसेनेन व्युत्क्रम्य समयं हतः । “मेरे पक्षके वीरोंमेंसे जो लोग इस युद्धमें जीवित बच गये हों, उन्हें यह बताना कि भीमसेनने किस तरह गदायुद्धके नियमका उल्लंघन करके मुझे मारा
yathāhaṃ bhīmasenena vyutkramya samayaṃ hataḥ |
Sañjaya said: “How I was slain by Bhīmasena after he transgressed the agreed rule (of the mace-fight).” The line frames the killing as ethically tainted: the speaker presents his death not merely as defeat in combat, but as the result of a breach of the mutually accepted code governing the duel.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral weight of agreed norms in warfare: victory gained by violating a mutually accepted rule is portrayed as ethically compromised, raising questions about dharma in extreme conflict.
In the context of the climactic mace duel, the speaker characterizes his death as caused by Bhīmasena’s breach of the duel’s agreed conventions, emphasizing that the killing occurred through a rule-violation rather than straightforward adherence to combat protocol.