Shloka 54

गदायुद्ध-समारम्भः

Commencement of the Mace-Duel Proceedings

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते शल्यपर्वणि गदापर्वणि बलदेवतीर्थयात्रायां सारस्वतोपाख्याने चतुष्पञ्चाशत्तमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate śalyaparvaṇi gadāparvaṇi baladevatīrthayātrāyāṃ sārasvatopākhyāne catuṣpañcāśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

یوں شری مہابھارت کے شلیہ پَرو کے گدا پَرو میں، بلدیو کی تیرتھ یاترا کے ضمن میں، سارسوتوپاکھیان کا چونواں باب اختتام کو پہنچا۔

Word by Word

• इति: thus; end-quote marker
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• श्रीमहाभारते: in the auspicious Mahabharata
• श्रीमहाभारते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रीमहाभारत
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• शल्यपर्वणि: in the Shalya Parva
• शल्यपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शल्यपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• गदापर्वणि: in the Gada Parva (section on the mace)
• गदापर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गदापर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• बलदेवतीर्थयात्रायाम्: in (the account of) Baladeva's pilgrimage to sacred fords
• बलदेवतीर्थयात्रायाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: बलदेवतीर्थयात्रा
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• सारस्वतोपाख्याने: in the Sarasvata episode (sub-narrative)
• सारस्वतोपाख्याने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सारस्वत-उपाख्यान
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• चतुष्पञ्चाशत्तमः: the fifty-fourth
• चतुष्पञ्चाशत्तमः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुःपञ्चाशत्-तम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अध्यायः: chapter
• अध्यायः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrī Mahābhārata
• Śalya Parva
• Gadā Parva
• Baladeva (Balarāma)
• Sarasvatī (implied by 'Sārasvata')
• Sārasvata Upākhyāna
• Tīrthayātrā (pilgrimage)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

As a colophon, the verse does not add new plot content; it frames the preceding material as part of Baladeva’s tīrtha-journey and the Sārasvata episode, implying that sacred travel and exemplary sub-stories serve as moral instruction and inner discipline, especially when society is destabilized by war.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrative unit concludes: the text marks the end of the fifty-fourth chapter within Śalya Parva’s Gada Parva, specifically in the context of Baladeva’s pilgrimage and the Sārasvata Upākhyāna.