Mahabharata 7.190.136 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 190, Shloka 136

Devanagari script

विच्छिन्नशरपातत्वाद्‌ गदायुद्धमवर्तत । फिर दोनों परस्पर अत्यन्त कुपित हो बड़े वेगसे टूट पड़े। उन युद्धकुशल योद्धाओंके परस्पर अत्यन्त निकट आ जानेके कारण उनके बाण चलानेका क्रम टूट गया; इसलिये उनमें गदायुद्ध आरम्भ हो गया

Transliteration

vicchinnaśarapātatvād gadāyuddham avartata |

Translation

સંજય બોલ્યા—બાણોની આપલે તૂટી જતાં યુદ્ધ ગદાયુદ્ધમાં વળી ગયું. ક્રોધથી દહકતા તે બંને યોદ્ધાઓ મહાવેગે એકબીજા પર તૂટી પડ્યા; અત્યંત નજીક આવી જતાં બાણપ્રયોગનો ક્રમ ભંગ થયો, તેથી ગદાઓથી નજીકનું યુદ્ધ શરૂ થયું.

Word by Word

• विच्छिन्न: broken, interrupted
• विच्छिन्न: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विच्छिन्न (√छिद् + वि, क्त)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• शरपात: shower/fall of arrows
• शरपात: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरपात
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• त्वात्: because of, due to (the state of)
• त्वात्: Apadana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: त्व (तद्धित प्रत्यय: -त्व) + तसिल् (-त्)
• Form: true

• गदायुद्धम्: mace-fight, club-combat
• गदायुद्धम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गदायुद्ध
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अवर्तत: arose, took place, began
• Type: Verb
• Root: √वृत् (वर्तते)
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular, Ātmanepada

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• arrows (śara)
• mace (gadā)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores a moral-psychological dynamic in war: when anger and proximity overtake restraint, combat shifts from regulated, distanced engagement (archery) to harsher, intimate violence (mace-fighting). It implicitly warns how krodha disrupts order and accelerates brutality.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the two opposing warriors close in so tightly that archery becomes impractical; the flow of arrow-shooting breaks, and they begin fighting with maces instead.