ते चैवोभे गदे श्रेष्ठे समासाद्य परस्परम् ॥
श्वसन्त्यौ नागकन्येव ससृजाते विभावसुम् ॥
नखैर् इव महाव्याघ्रौ दन्तैर् इव महागजौ ॥
तौ विचेरतुर् आसाद्य गदाभ्यां च परस्परम् ॥
ततो गदाग्राभिहतौ क्षणेन रुधिरोक्षितौ ॥
ददृशाते महात्मानौ पुष्पिताव् इव किंशुकौ ॥
शुश्रुवे दिक्षु सर्वासु तयोः पुरुषसिंहयोः ॥
गदाभिघातसंह्रादः शक्राशनिर् इवोपमः ॥
te caivobhe gade śreṣṭhe samāsādya parasparam ||
śvasantyau nāgakanyeva sasṛjāte vibhāvasum ||
nakhair iva mahāvyāghrau dantair iva mahāgajau ||
tau viceratur āsādya gadābhyāṃ ca parasparam ||
tato gadāgrābhihatau kṣaṇena rudhirokṣitau ||
dadṛśāte mahātmānau puṣpitāv iva kiṃśukau ||
śuśruve dikṣu sarvāsu tayoḥ puruṣasiṃhayoḥ ||
gadābhighātasaṃhrādaḥ śakrāśanir ivopamaḥ ||
And those two excellent maces, clashing with each other, hissing like a naga-maiden, poured forth fire. Like great tigers with their claws, like great elephants with their tusks, so the two of them, clashing again with their maces, met one another. Then, struck instantly by the ends of the maces, drenched in blood, the two great-souled ones appeared to the eye like flowering kimshuka trees. In all directions there resounded, from those two lions among men, the roar of the mace-blows, like the thunderbolt of Shakra [Indra].
728d5c9f0679 · publicado 19 jul 2026, 15:00:04 UTC
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The blood-soaked heroes are likened to "flowering kimshukas" — the scarlet of their wounds transfigured into blossom: the tale discerns in the very blood of battle a mournful beauty. Comparisons to tigers, elephants, naga-maidens, and the thunderbolt raise the duel to the level of a clash of elements. Yet beneath the grandeur of these images lies a simple truth: two noble men tear at each other until blood flows, at the bidding of an unjust war. The verse teaches that war clothes horror in majestic images without abolishing its essence; that valor and beauty do not justify the fratricide to which kindred warriors are condemned; and that even the most radiant picture of a duel holds within it a grief for blood spilled in vain.