Shloka 6
Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization
उलूक उवाच इदं त्वामब्रवीद् राजा धार्तराष्ट्री महामना: । शृण्वतां कुरुवीराणां तन्निबोध युधिष्ठिर,उलूक बोला--महाराज युधिष्ठिर! महामना धुृतराष्ट्रपुत्र दुर्योधनने कौरववीरोंके समक्ष आपको यह संदेश कहलाया है, इसे सुनिये
Ulūka uvāca: idaṃ tvām abravīd rājā dhārtarāṣṭrī mahāmanāḥ | śṛṇvatāṃ kuruvīrāṇāṃ tan nibodha yudhiṣṭhira ||
Ulūka sprach: „O Yudhiṣṭhira! Der hochgesinnte König Duryodhana, Sohn des Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hat dir diese Botschaft im Beisein der Helden der Kuru übermitteln lassen. Höre sie an und begreife sie.“
उलूक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical weight of speech and diplomacy: a message delivered publicly before warriors is not merely information but a deliberate political act, shaping honor, resolve, and the dharmic framing of the coming conflict.
Ulūka, acting as Duryodhana’s messenger, begins delivering Duryodhana’s words to Yudhiṣṭhira, emphasizing that the message was spoken in the hearing of the Kuru heroes—signaling a formal, public, and confrontational communication on the eve of war.