Shloka 68

Bhīma–Duryodhana Gadāyuddha Saṃkalpa

Resolve for the Mace Duel

Devanagari script

अहमटद्य गमिष्यामि वैरस्यान्तं सुदुर्गमम्‌ । गदया पुरुषव्याप्र हेमपट्टनिबद्धया

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

ahaṁ adya gamiṣyāmi vairasyāntaṁ sudurgamam |

gadayā puruṣavyāghra hemapaṭṭanibaddhayā ||

Translation

सञ्जय उवाच—अहमद्य गमिष्यामि वैरस्यान्तं सुदुर्गमम्। गदया पुरुषव्याघ्र हेमपट्टनिबद्धया वैरस्य पारं तरिष्यामि॥

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.