Shloka 3
उत्तरोपदेशः
Uttara’s Fear and Arjuna’s Martial Reassertion
स्पृष्टवन्तं शरीरं मां शववाहमिवाशुचिम् । कथं वा व्यवहार्य वै कुर्वीथास्त्वं बृहन्नले,बृहन्नले! यदि मैं शवका स्पर्श कर लूँ, तो मुर्दा ढोनेवालोंकी भाँति अपवित्र हो जाऊँगा; फिर तुम मुझे व्यवहारमें लाने योग्य युद्ध कैसे कर सकोगी?
Uttara uvāca: spṛṣṭavantaṁ śarīraṁ māṁ śavavāham ivāśucim | kathaṁ vā vyavahāryaṁ vai kurvīthās tvaṁ bṛhannale bṛhannale ||
Uttara said: “If I were to touch a corpse, I would become impure—like those who carry the dead. Then, O Bṛhannalā, how could you make me fit to be dealt with in society and fit for battle?”
उत्तर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between kṣatriya duty in crisis and prevailing norms of ritual purity: Uttara fears that contact with a corpse brings social and ritual defilement, making him unfit for public dealings and thus unfit to act as a warrior.
In the Virāṭa episode, Prince Uttara speaks to Bṛhannalā (Arjuna in disguise). As he is being urged toward battle, he raises an objection rooted in impurity: if he touches a dead body, he will become aśuci like a corpse-bearer, so he questions how Bṛhannalā could then prepare him for proper participation in war and society.