Shloka 77
Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)
द्रोणमासाद्य समरे ज्ञास्यसे हितमुत्तमम् । युध्यस्व ससुह्ृत् पापं कुरु कर्म सुदुष्करम्,“समरभूमिमें ट्रोणाचार्यके सामने जाकर ही तुम यह जान सकोगे कि तुम्हारा उत्तम हित किस बातमें है। आओ, अपने सुहृदोंके साथ रहकर युद्ध करो और गुरुके वधका अत्यन्त दुष्कर पाप कर डालो”
droṇam āsādya samare jñāsyase hitam uttamam | yudhyasva sa-suhṛt pāpaṁ kuru karma suduṣkaram ||
Sañjaya said: “Only by going up to Droṇa on the battlefield will you truly learn what your highest welfare is. Come—fight while standing with your well-wishers, and commit that most difficult sin: the grievous deed of slaying your own teacher.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharma-crisis: in war, one may be driven toward actions that are both strategically necessary and morally grievous—here, the near-unthinkable act of harming one’s own guru. It frames ‘true welfare’ (hita) as something revealed through direct confrontation with reality, not mere speculation.
Sañjaya reports a hard-edged exhortation: the addressee is told to go before Droṇa in battle to discover what course truly serves his interest, to fight alongside allies, and to undertake the extremely difficult and sinful deed associated with killing the teacher Droṇa.