Shloka 119
Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)
वासुदेवसहस्रं वा फाल्गुनानां शतानि वा । आसाद्य माममोधेषुं द्रविष्पन्ति दिशो दश,“हजारों श्रीकृष्ण और सैकड़ों अर्जुन भी अमोघ बाणोंवाले मुझ वीरके पास आकर दसों दिशाओंमें भाग जायँगे
vāsudeva-sahasraṃ vā phālgunānāṃ śatāni vā | āsādya mām amogheṣuṃ draviṣyanti diśo daśa ||
Sañjaya said: “Even if a thousand Vāsudevas or hundreds of Phālgunas were to confront me—me whose arrows never fail—they would be forced to flee in all ten directions.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how martial pride and intimidation can distort judgment and harden positions, a key ethical pressure-point in Udyoga Parva where the choice between negotiation and war is still open but increasingly undermined by arrogance.
In the lead-up to the Kurukṣetra war, a speaker (reported by Sañjaya) proclaims extraordinary confidence: even if Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna were multiplied many times over, they would still be driven to flee—an expression meant to project dominance and discourage opposition.