Shloka 68

Bhīma–Duryodhana Gadāyuddha Saṃkalpa

Resolve for the Mace Duel

Devanagari script

अहमटद्य गमिष्यामि वैरस्यान्तं सुदुर्गमम्‌ । गदया पुरुषव्याप्र हेमपट्टनिबद्धया,'रणक्षेत्रमें पहुँचकर मैं तुममेंसे किसी एकके साथ युद्ध करूँगा और मेरा विश्वास है कि समरांगणमें विजय पाऊँगा। पुरुषसिंह! आज मैं सुवर्णपत्रजटित गदाके द्वारा वैरके उस पार पहुँच जाऊँगा, जहाँ जाना किसीके लिये भी अत्यन्त कठिन है

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

ahaṁ adya gamiṣyāmi vairasyāntaṁ sudurgamam |

gadayā puruṣavyāghra hemapaṭṭanibaddhayā ||

Translation

സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഇന്ന് ഞാൻ ഈ വൈരത്തിന്റെ അത്യന്തം ദുർഗമമായ അന്തത്തിലേക്ക് പോകും. പുരുഷവ്യാഘ്രാ! സ്വർണ്ണപ്പട്ടകളാൽ ബന്ധിച്ച എന്റെ ഗദയാൽ ഈ ശത്രുതയുടെ അപ്പുറം തീരം കടക്കും.

Word by Word

• {'ahaṁ': 'I', 'adya': 'today', 'gamiṣyāmi': 'I shall go / I will proceed', 'vaira': 'enmity, feud', 'antas': 'end, limit, termination', 'vairasyāntam': 'to the end/limit of the feud', 'sudurgamam': 'very difficult to reach, formidable', 'gadayā': 'with a mace (instrumental)', 'puruṣavyāghra': 'tiger among men

• a heroic epithet (vocative)', 'hema': 'gold', 'paṭṭa': 'band, strip, plate (ornamental binding)', 'nibaddhā': 'bound, fastened', 'hemapaṭṭanibaddhayā': 'fastened/bound with golden bands (describing the mace)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• gadā (mace)
• hemapaṭṭa (golden bands/plates)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the warrior’s mindset in the final phase of conflict: a determination to bring a long-standing feud to its conclusion, even through perilous means. Ethically, it reflects the kṣatriya ideal of decisive action in battle, while also underscoring how enmity drives one toward a difficult, often destructive ‘end’.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a warrior’s declaration of intent: he will advance into battle and, wielding a mace ornamented with golden bindings, aims to reach the ‘end of enmity’—i.e., to finish the feud through a decisive confrontation.