Shloka 136
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
vicchinnaśarapātatvād gadāyuddham avartata |
Sañjaya said: Because the exchange of arrows was cut off, the combat turned into a mace-fight. As the two warriors, inflamed with anger, rushed at each other with great speed and came into very close range, the orderly sequence of missile warfare broke; thus, the battle shifted to close-quarters fighting with clubs—an escalation that highlights how wrath and proximity can drive war from regulated engagement into more brutal hand-to-hand violence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.