Shloka 111
Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)
क्व तदा गाण्डिवं ते5भूद् यत् त्वं दासपणैर्जित: । क्व तदा भीमसेनस्य बलमासीच्च फाल्गुन
kva tadā gāṇḍīvaṃ te ’bhūd yat tvaṃ dāsapaṇair jitaḥ | kva tadā bhīmasenasya balam āsīc ca phālguna ||
সঞ্জয় বললেন— “দাস-অর্জুন! পাশার দানে যখন তুমি জিতিয়ে নেওয়া হলে, তখন তোমার গাণ্ডীব ধনুক কোথায় ছিল? আর হে ফাল্গুন, তখন ভীমসেনের বলই বা কোথায় গেল?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical cost of moral lapse: heroic power and famed weapons are meaningless when one is overcome by adharma such as reckless gambling and the loss of self-mastery; true strength includes restraint and right judgment.
Sañjaya, speaking in the Udyoga context of impending war, recalls the earlier dice-hall humiliation and taunts Arjuna: if Arjuna and Bhīma were truly so mighty, why did they not prevent being reduced to servitude through the gambling stakes?