Shloka 47
Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)
पज्च ग्रामा वृता यत्नान्नास्माभिरपवर्जिता: । युध्यामहे कथं संख्ये कोपयेम च पाण्डवान्,“तुमने केवल पाँच गाँव माँगे थे, परंतु हमने प्रयत्नपूर्वक तुम्हारी वह माँग इसलिये ठुकरा दी है कि पाण्डवोंको किसी प्रकार कुपित करें, जिससे संग्राम-भूमिमें उनके साथ युद्ध करनेका अवसर प्राप्त हो
pañca grāmā vṛtā yatnān nāsmābhir apavarjitāḥ | yudhyāmahe kathaṃ saṅkhye kopayema ca pāṇḍavān ||
Sañjaya said: “You asked only for five villages; yet we have deliberately refused that request. Our aim was to provoke the Pāṇḍavas somehow, so that we might gain the chance to meet them in battle on the field of war.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical collapse that occurs when negotiation is rejected not for justice but to manufacture anger and justify violence; it portrays deliberate provocation as a mark of adharma and a catalyst for war.
Sañjaya reports that the side opposing the Pāṇḍavas refused even the minimal request of five villages, intentionally aiming to enrage the Pāṇḍavas so that a full-scale battle would become inevitable.