Shloka 89
Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)
“तुम जूएमें पराजित हुए और तुम्हारी स्त्री द्रौषदीको सभामें लाया गया। अपनेको पुरुष माननेवाले किसी भी मनुष्यको इन बातोंके लिये भारी अमर्ष हो सकता है ।। द्वादशैव तु वर्षाणि वने धिष्ण्याद् विवासित: । संवत्सरं विराटस्य दास्यमास्थाय चोषित:,“तुम बारह वर्षोतक राज्यसे निर्वासित होकर वनमें रहे हो और एक वर्षतक तुम्हें विराटका दास होकर रहना पड़ा है
sañjaya uvāca |
tvaṁ jūe parājito 'si, tava ca strī draupadī sabhāṁ nītā | ātmānaṁ puruṣaṁ manyamānasya kasyacid api manuṣyasya etāsu bāteṣu bhāryaḥ amarṣaḥ syāt ||
dvādaśaiva tu varṣāṇi vane dhiṣṇyād vivāsitaḥ | saṁvatsaraṁ virāṭasya dāsyam āsthāya coṣitaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “You were defeated at the dice, and your wife Draupadī was brought into the royal assembly. For any man who considers himself a man, these things can kindle a fierce, unbearable indignation. And you were driven from your rightful seat and made to live in the forest for twelve years; then for one year you had to dwell in the service of King Virāṭa as a servant.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames moral outrage (amarṣa) as a natural response to grave injustice—public humiliation of a wife and wrongful dispossession—highlighting how violations of dharma and honor become ethical grounds for resistance and, in the epic’s logic, a cause leading toward war.
Sañjaya reminds the listener of the Pāṇḍavas’ injuries: defeat in the dice-game, Draupadī’s being dragged into the court, twelve years of forest exile, and a final year living incognito in servitude under King Virāṭa—recalling accumulated wrongs that intensify the conflict.