Shloka 45
Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)
बाहुवीर्येण पृथिवीं लब्ध्वा भरतसत्तम । देहि दानं॑ द्विजातिभ्य: पितृभ्यश्ष॒ यथोचितम्,“भरतश्रेष्ठ अपने बाहुबलसे इस पृथ्वीका राज्य प्राप्त करके तुम ब्राह्मणोंको दान दो और पितरोंको उनका यथोचित भाग अर्पण करो
bāhuvīryeṇa pṛthivīṃ labdhvā bharatasattama | dehi dānaṃ dvijātibhyaḥ pitṛbhyaś ca yathocitam ||
Sañjaya said: “O best of the Bharatas, having won sovereignty over the earth by the strength of your own arms, give gifts to the twice-born, and offer to the ancestors their due share in the proper manner.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power and conquest are not ends in themselves; a righteous ruler must convert gained sovereignty into dharmic action—supporting the learned through dāna and maintaining ancestral obligations through proper offerings.
Sañjaya reports counsel addressed to a Kuru prince (honored as ‘best of the Bharatas’), urging him that after securing rule by valor, he should perform kingly duties: give gifts to the twice-born and render the ancestors their rightful share.