Shloka 31
Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization
सा वो दास्ये समापन्नान् मोक्षयामास पार्षती । अमानुष्यं समापन्नान् दासकर्मण्यवस्थितान्
sā vo dāsye samāpannān mokṣayāmāsa pārṣatī | amānuṣyaṃ samāpannān dāsakarmaṇy avasthitān |
Ulūka sprach: „Als ihr in den Zustand der Knechtschaft gefallen wart—herabgedrückt zu einem elenden, unmännlichen Los und an die Arbeit von Dienern gebunden—da war es Pārṣatī (Draupadī), die Tochter Drupadas, die euch aus jener Krise der Fesselung befreite.“
उलूक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical shame of being reduced to servitude through adharma and the moral force of liberation: dignity lost through injustice can be restored by steadfast righteousness and courageous intervention—here attributed to Draupadī.
Ulūka, speaking as a messenger in the Udyoga Parva, taunts the opposing side by recalling an earlier humiliation: the addressees had fallen into a state of slavery, and Draupadī (Drupada’s daughter) was the one who delivered them from that bondage.