Shloka 12
Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)
य इच्छसि जगत् सर्व नश्यमानं नृशंसवत् | अभयं सर्वभूते भ्यो दाता त्वमिति मे मति:
ya icchasi jagat sarvaṁ naśyamānaṁ nṛśaṁsavat | abhayaṁ sarvabhūtebhyo dātā tvam iti me matiḥ ||
সঞ্জয় বললেন—নিষ্ঠুর মানুষের মতো তুমি সমগ্র জগতের বিনাশ দেখতে চাও। অথচ আমার ধারণা ছিল, তুমি সকল প্রাণীর জন্য অভয়দাতা।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts the ideal of a ruler as a giver of “abhaya” (fearlessness and protection to all beings) with the moral collapse of desiring universal destruction; it frames cruelty and delight in ruin as adharma.
Sanjaya rebukes the addressee, expressing shock that someone believed to be a protector now seems to want to witness the world’s destruction, highlighting the ethical tension surrounding the impending conflict.