Shloka 23

Devanagari script

धर्मयुद्धे ह्वार्मेण समाहूयौजसा मृधे । गदया भीमसेनेन निर्भग्ने सक्थिनी तव,'भीमसेनने आपको धर्मयुद्धके लिये बुलाकर रणभूमिमें अधर्मके बलसे गदाद्वारा आपकी दोनों जाँघें तोड़ डालीं

Transliteration

dharmayuddhe hvārmeṇa samāhūyaujasa mṛdhe | gadayā bhīmasenena nirbhagne sakthinī tava |

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: “Dalam pertarungan yang diisytiharkan sebagai duel yang benar, Bhīmasena mencabar engkau di medan perang; namun dengan kekuatan adharma, dia menghancurkan kedua-dua pahamu dengan gada.”

Word by Word

धर्मयुद्धेin a righteous battle

ह्वार्मेणby (means of) a challenge/defiance

समाहूयhaving challenged/called (to fight)

ओजसाby strength, with force

मृधेin battle

गदयाwith a mace

भीमसेनेनby Bhimasena

निर्भग्नेwhen (they) were broken

सक्थिनीin/at the two thighs

तवof you, your

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhīmasena

Duryodhana

gadā (mace)

battlefield (raṇabhūmi)

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?

The verse highlights the tension between proclaimed dharma (a ‘righteous’ duel) and actual conduct in war: even within a dharma-yuddha framework, actions can slip into adharma, and the moral weight of victory is judged not only by outcome but by adherence to agreed rules.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya recounts to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the climactic mace-fight episode: Bhīma challenges Duryodhana and, in the course of the duel, breaks Duryodhana’s thighs with a mace-blow—an act remembered as violating the accepted norms of mace-combat.