Shloka 68

Bhīma–Duryodhana Gadāyuddha Saṃkalpa

Resolve for the Mace Duel

Devanagari script

अहमटद्य गमिष्यामि वैरस्यान्तं सुदुर्गमम्‌ । गदया पुरुषव्याप्र हेमपट्टनिबद्धया

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

ahaṁ adya gamiṣyāmi vairasyāntaṁ sudurgamam |

gadayā puruṣavyāghra hemapaṭṭanibaddhayā ||

Translation

Dijo Sañjaya: «Hoy iré hasta el fin, difícil de alcanzar, de esta enemistad. Oh tigre entre los hombres, con mi maza—ceñida con bandas de oro—cruzaré más allá de la lejana orilla de este rencor».

Word by Word

• {'ahaṁ': 'I', 'adya': 'today', 'gamiṣyāmi': 'I shall go / I will proceed', 'vaira': 'enmity, feud', 'antas': 'end, limit, termination', 'vairasyāntam': 'to the end/limit of the feud', 'sudurgamam': 'very difficult to reach, formidable', 'gadayā': 'with a mace (instrumental)', 'puruṣavyāghra': 'tiger among men

• a heroic epithet (vocative)', 'hema': 'gold', 'paṭṭa': 'band, strip, plate (ornamental binding)', 'nibaddhā': 'bound, fastened', 'hemapaṭṭanibaddhayā': 'fastened/bound with golden bands (describing the mace)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• gadā (mace)
• hemapaṭṭa (golden bands/plates)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the warrior’s mindset in the final phase of conflict: a determination to bring a long-standing feud to its conclusion, even through perilous means. Ethically, it reflects the kṣatriya ideal of decisive action in battle, while also underscoring how enmity drives one toward a difficult, often destructive ‘end’.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a warrior’s declaration of intent: he will advance into battle and, wielding a mace ornamented with golden bindings, aims to reach the ‘end of enmity’—i.e., to finish the feud through a decisive confrontation.