Shloka 21

Devanagari script

शिरस्ते पोथयिष्यामि गदया वज्कल्पया । “यदि तू पुनः मेरे समीप ऐसी बात बोलेगा तो मैं अपनी इस वज्तुल्य गदासे तेरा सिर कुचल दूँगा ।। त्वां च ब्रह्म॒हणं दृष्टवा जन: सूर्यमवेक्षते

Transliteration

śiraste pothayiṣyāmi gadayā vajrakalpayā | yadi tvaṁ punaḥ mama samīpe etādṛśīṁ vācaṁ vadiṣyasi tato'haṁ etayā vajratulyayā gadayā tava śiraḥ kūcayiṣyāmi || tvāṁ ca brahmahaṇaṁ dṛṣṭvā janaḥ sūryam avekṣate |

Translation

ಸಂಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು— ನೀನು ನನ್ನ ಸಮೀಪ ಮತ್ತೆ ಇಂತಹ ಮಾತುಗಳನ್ನು ಹೇಳಿದರೆ, ಈ ವಜ್ರಸಮಾನ ಗದೆಯಿಂದ ನಿನ್ನ ತಲೆಯನ್ನು ನುಚ್ಚುನೂರು ಮಾಡುತ್ತೇನೆ. ಮತ್ತು ನಿನ್ನನ್ನು—ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣಹತ್ಯೆಯ ಪಾಪದಿಂದ ಕಲుషಿತನನ್ನು—ನೋಡಿ ಜನರು ಸೂರ್ಯನತ್ತ ನೋಡುವಂತೆ ಮುಖ ತಿರುಗಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ.

Word by Word

शिरःhead

तेof you/your

पोथयिष्यामिI will crush/pound

गदयाwith a mace

वज्रकल्पयाwith (a mace) like a thunderbolt

त्वाम्you

चand

ब्रह्महणम्a slayer of a brahmin (brahma-slayer)

दृष्ट्वाhaving seen

जनःpeople/a person

सूर्यम्the sun

अवेक्षतेlooks at/beholds

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

mace (gadā)

thunderbolt (vajra)

people (janaḥ)

sun (sūrya)

brahmahaṇ (one guilty of brahmin-slaying)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even in wartime, speech and conduct carry moral weight: violent threats and association with grave sin (brahmahatyā) diminish one’s standing, and society instinctively recoils from those perceived as morally tainted.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports a harsh warning: the speaker threatens to crush the other’s head with a thunderbolt-like mace if such words are repeated, and adds that people avert their gaze from the person as from the sun, implying fear, revulsion, or the unbearable glare of guilt.