Shloka 24

Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)

Devanagari script

भवान्‌ नो गतिरव्यग्रा भवान्‌ नः परम: सुह्ृत्‌ । ते वयं सहिता: सर्वे भवन्तं शरणं गता:,“यह सोचकर वे सभी उस बिलावके पास गये और इस प्रकार बोले--“मामाजी! हम सब लोग आपकी कृपासे सुखपूर्वक विचरना चाहते हैं। आप ही हमारे निर्भय आश्रय हैं और आप ही हमारे परम सुहृद्‌ हैं। हम सब लोग एक साथ संगठित होकर आपकी शरणमें आये हैं

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | bhavān no gatir avyagrā bhavān naḥ paramaḥ suhṛt | te vayaṃ sahitāḥ sarve bhavantaṃ śaraṇaṃ gatāḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: “You are our untroubled refuge; you are our highest well-wisher. Therefore all of us, united together, have come to you for protection.”

Word by Word

• {'bhavān': 'you (honorific singular)', 'naḥ/no': 'our, to us', 'gatiḥ': 'refuge, resort, course, means of safety', 'avyagrā': 'undistracted

• free from anxiety (i.e., a calm/safe refuge)', 'paramaḥ': 'supreme, highest', 'suhṛt': 'well-wisher, friend, benevolent ally', 'te': 'therefore, for that reason', 'vayam': 'we', 'sahitāḥ': 'together, united, assembled', 'sarve': 'all', 'śaraṇam': 'shelter, protection, asylum', 'gatāḥ': 'have gone

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• unnamed group of supplicants (vayaṃ sarve)
• the addressed protector (bhavān)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds śaraṇāgati—approaching a perceived protector as one’s ‘refuge’ and ‘well-wisher.’ It also invites ethical reflection: praise and collective submission can be sincere dependence, but can also be a rhetorical strategy that risks misplaced trust if the protector is not truly benevolent.

What is happening in the narrative?

A group speaks in a deferential tone to someone they regard as capable of granting safety. They emphasize unity (‘all of us together’) and frame the addressee as both refuge (gati/śaraṇa) and intimate ally (parama-suhṛt), thereby strengthening their plea for protection.