Shloka 393
Gadāyuddhe Kṛṣṇopadeśaḥ (Kṛṣṇa’s Counsel in the Mace-Duel) — Śalya-parva 57
अतिक्कुद्धस्य क्रुद्धस्तु ताडयामास तां गदाम् | यह देख क्रोधमें भरे भीमसेनने अत्यन्त कुपित हुए दुर्योधनकी सुवर्णजटित उस महावेगशालिनी गदापर ही अपनी गदासे आघात किया
atikruddhasya kruddhas tu tāḍayāmāsa tāṃ gadām |
Sañjaya said: Enraged beyond measure, Bhīmasena—himself aflame with wrath—struck directly at that mace. In the heat of battle, anger answers anger, and the contest turns into a test of restraint as much as of strength.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how anger escalates conflict: wrath provokes wrath, and the battlefield becomes not only a contest of weapons but also a moral trial of self-control. It implicitly warns that krodha can dominate judgment even among great warriors.
Sañjaya narrates a moment in the mace-fight where Bhīma, intensely angered, delivers a blow aimed at the opponent’s mace itself—meeting weapon with weapon in a forceful exchange.