Shloka 68

Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)

Devanagari script

निहनिष्यामि तरसा तस्य कालो5यमागत: । “कुन्तीकुमार! तुम जो कहा करते हो कि मैं युद्धमें धृतराष्ट्रके पुत्रोंको वेगपूर्वक मार डालूँगा, उसका यह समय आ गया है || ६७ ह || त्वं हि भाज्ये पुरस्कार्यो भक्ष्ये पेये च भारत

Transliteration

nihaniṣyāmi tarasā tasya kālo ’yam āgataḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: «Mit jähem Ansturm werde ich ihn niederstrecken; die dafür bestimmte Zeit ist nun gekommen.»

Word by Word

निहनिष्यामिI will slay

तरसाwith force, swiftly

तस्यof him/that

कालःtime

अयम्this

आगतःhas come, has arrived

त्वम्you

हिindeed, for

भाज्येin what is to be divided/shared

पुरस्कार्यःto be put in front; to be preferred/honoured

भक्ष्येin food (things to be eaten)

पेयेin drink (things to be drunk)

चand

भारतO Bharata (descendant of Bharata)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

an unnamed target referred to as 'tasya' (him)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds kāla (the decisive moment) as a moral-psychological frame for action: the speaker presents violent resolve not as random aggression but as something that has become 'due'—a common Mahābhārata way of linking human agency with the pressure of destiny and circumstance.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a declaration of imminent action: someone asserts that the moment has arrived to swiftly kill an opponent. The emphasis is on urgency (tarasā) and on the arrival of the fated hour (kālaḥ … āgataḥ).