Shloka 33
Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization
सूदकर्मणि च श्रान्तं विराटस्य महानसे । भीमसेनेन कौन्तेय यच्च तन््मम पौरुषम्,“कुन्तीकुमार! तुम्हारे भाई भीमसेनको राजा विराटके रसोईघरमें रसोइयेके काममें ही संलग्न रहकर जो भारी श्रम उठाना पड़ा, वह सब मेरा ही पुरुषार्थ है
sūdakarmaṇi ca śrāntaṃ virāṭasya mahānase | bhīmasenena kaunteya yac ca tan mama pauruṣam ||
Ulūka dijo: «¡Oh hijo de Kuntī! El agotador trabajo que tu hermano Bhīmasena hubo de soportar, empleado como cocinero en la gran cocina del rey Virāṭa, también es fruto de mi propio poder.»
उलूक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how pride and taunting are used as weapons: Ulūka claims credit for the Pāṇḍavas’ enforced humiliation, illustrating adharma in speech—deriding another’s hardship to provoke anger and destabilize resolve.
Ulūka, speaking as a hostile envoy, mocks the Pāṇḍavas by recalling their incognito exile at Virāṭa’s court—specifically Bhīma’s disguise as a cook in the royal kitchen—and boasts that this suffering was caused by his side’s power.