Shloka 55
Śalya–Bhīma Gadā-saṃnipāta and Śalya’s Bāṇa-jāla against Yudhiṣṭhira
Book 9, Chapter 11
यया कैलासभवने महेश्वरसखं बली । आह्वयामास युद्धाय भीमसेनो महाबल:,यह वही गदा है, जिसके द्वारा महाबली भीमसेनने कैलासशिखरपर भगवान् शंकरके सखा कुबेरको युद्धके लिये ललकारा था
yayā kailāsabhavane maheśvarasakhaṃ balī | āhvayāmāsa yuddhāya bhīmaseno mahābalaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “With that very mace, the mighty Bhīmasena—of great strength—once challenged Kubera, the friend of Lord Maheśvara, to combat in the abode of Kailāsa.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how a warrior’s present threat is intensified by remembered precedent: Bhīma’s mace is not merely a weapon but a symbol of proven, audacious strength—even before divine figures—thereby heightening the moral and psychological weight of the coming combat.
Sañjaya identifies a particular mace by recalling its famed history: it is the same mace with which Bhīma once dared to challenge Kubera, Śiva’s friend, at Kailāsa. The recollection serves to emphasize the weapon’s—and Bhīma’s—fearsome reputation in the current war context.