Shloka 18

गदायुद्धप्रतिज्ञा — The Vow and Terms of the Mace Duel

Devanagari script

सुयोधन किमर्थो5यमारम्भो<प्सु कृतस्त्वया । सर्व क्षत्रं घातयित्वा स्वकुलं च विशाम्पते

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | suyodhana kim artho ’yam ārambho ’psu kṛtas tvayā | sarva-kṣatraṁ ghātayitvā sva-kulaṁ ca viśāṁ-pate ||

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: “Wahai Suyodhana, untuk apakah engkau memulai perbuatan ini di dalam air? Setelah menyebabkan kebinasaan seluruh kaum kṣatriya dan bahkan keturunanmu sendiri, wahai tuan rakyat, kini engkau bersembunyi di tasik demi menyelamatkan nyawamu. Bangkitlah, Raja Suyodhana, dan bertempurlah bersama kami.”

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sañjaya said', 'suyodhana': 'Duryodhana (epithet meaning ‘hard to conquer’)', 'kim arthaḥ': 'for what purpose? why?', 'ayam ārambhaḥ': 'this undertaking/attempt

• this course of action begun', 'apsu': 'in the waters', 'kṛtaḥ tvayā': 'done by you', 'sarva-kṣatram': 'all kṣatriyas

• the whole warrior class/host', 'ghātayitvā': 'having caused to be slain

• having brought about the killing', 'sva-kulam': 'one’s own family/lineage', 'ca': 'and', 'viśāṁ-pate': 'lord of the people (royal epithet)', 'prāṇānātha/prāṇa-rakṣā': 'desire to preserve life (implied by context: hiding to save oneself)', 'uttiṣṭha': 'rise! (imperative, implied by ‘Rise…’)', 'yudhyasva': 'fight! (imperative, implied by ‘fight with us’)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Suyodhana (Duryodhana)
• the lake/waters (jalāśaya/apsu)
• kṣatriyas (warrior class)
• Kuru lineage (implied by sva-kula)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler who has unleashed catastrophic violence cannot ethically retreat into self-preservation at the end; kṣatriya-dharma demands facing the consequences with courage and accountability rather than hiding after causing the ruin of others.

What is happening in the narrative?

After the near-total destruction of the warriors and his own side, Duryodhana is found concealed in a lake. Sañjaya challenges him, questioning the point of this act and urging him to rise and fight instead of attempting to save his life by hiding.