Shloka 12

उलूकदूतवाक्यम् / Ulūka’s Message to the Pāṇḍavas

Devanagari script

सेनया चतुरद्धिण्या महत्या दूरपातया

Transliteration

senayā caturaddhiṇyā mahatyā dūrapātayā

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: With a vast fourfold army—so great in scale and striking power that it could project its force from afar—they advanced.

Word by Word

• सेनया: by/with the army
• सेनया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सेना
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• चतुरङ्गिण्या: by/with the four-limbed (fourfold) [army]
• चतुरङ्गिण्या: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुरङ्गिन्
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• महत्या: by/with the great
• महत्या: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• दूरपातया: by/with the far-reaching (long-range)
• दूरपातया: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दूरपात
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• senā (army)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the ethical gravity of mobilized power: a ‘great fourfold army’ is not merely a spectacle but a force whose reach and consequences extend far, reminding the listener that war’s impact spreads beyond the battlefield and therefore demands careful dharmic judgment.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes the presence/advance of a massive, fully constituted fourfold army (infantry, cavalry, chariots, elephants), emphasizing its magnitude and far-reaching striking capacity—an image that heightens the tension as the epic moves toward open conflict.