Shloka 7
Uttanka’s Inquiry and Vāsudeva’s Adhyātma Exposition
Guṇa–Ritual–Immanence Teaching
स प्रयातो महाबाहु: समेषु मरुधन्वसु । ददर्शाथ मुनिश्रेष्ठमुत्तडकममितौजसम्,इस प्रकार मरुभूमिके समतल प्रदेशमें पहुँचकर महाबाहु श्रीकृष्णने अमिततेजस्वी मुनिश्रेष्ठ उत्तंकका दर्शन किया
vaiśampāyana uvāca | sa prayāto mahābāhuḥ sameṣu marudhanvasu | dadarśātha muniśreṣṭham uttaṅkam amitaujasam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Proceeding onward, the mighty-armed one reached the level stretches of the desert; there he beheld the foremost of sages, Uttanka, a seer of immeasurable spiritual radiance. The episode frames a meeting where royal power and divine agency are brought into dialogue with ascetic authority, reminding the listener that dharma is clarified not only on battlefields but also through encounters with truth-speaking sages.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse sets up a dharmic contrast: worldly might (mahābāhu) approaches ascetic brilliance (amitaujas). It signals that ethical clarity and right action are often refined through engagement with sages, whose authority rests on tapas and truth rather than force.
As narrated by Vaiśampāyana, Kṛṣṇa travels into the level desert tracts and there encounters the eminent sage Uttanka, initiating the next phase of dialogue and events centered on counsel, dharma, and the consequences of past actions.