Shloka 41

Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization

Devanagari script

दुःशासनौघं शलशल्यमत्स्यं सुषेणचित्रायुधनागनक्रम्‌ । जयद्रथाद्रिं पुरुमित्रगाधं दुर्मर्षणोदं शकुनिप्रपातम्‌,“दुःशासन इसके तीव्र प्रवाहके समान है, शल और शल्य मत्स्य हैं, सुषेण और चित्रायुध नाग और मकरके समान हैं, जयद्रथ पर्वत है, पुरुमित्र उसकी गम्भीरता है, दुर्मर्षण जल है और शकुनि प्रपात (झरने)-का काम देता है

Transliteration

duḥśāsanaughaṃ śalaśalyamatsyaṃ suṣeṇacitrāyudhanāganakram | jayadrathādriṃ purumitragādhaṃ durmarṣaṇodaṃ śakuniprapātam ||

Translation

Ulūka prosiguió con su burla, figurando al ejército de los Kaurava como un río temible: Duḥśāsana es su torrente feroz; Śala y Śalya son como grandes peces en sus aguas; Suṣeṇa y Citrāyudha, como serpientes y makaras; Jayadratha se alza cual montaña; Purumitra es su cauce profundo; Durmarṣaṇa, su agua crecida; y Śakuni obra como una catarata que se precipita. Con esta imagen pretende amedrentar a los Pāṇḍava, presentando la fuerza enemiga como una corriente peligrosa e incontenible.

Word by Word

• {'duḥśāsana': 'Duḥśāsana (a Kaurava prince)', 'ogha': 'flood, torrent, strong current', 'śala': 'Śala (a warrior/ally named Śala)', 'śalya': 'Śalya (king of Madra, a major warrior)', 'matsya': 'fish (metaphor for powerful beings moving within the river)', 'suṣeṇa': 'Suṣeṇa (a warrior/ally named Suṣeṇa)', 'citrāyudha': 'Citrāyudha (a warrior/ally named Citrāyudha)', 'nāga': 'serpent (metaphor for dangerous fighters)', 'nakra': 'makara/crocodile-like aquatic monster (metaphor for fearsome combatants)', 'jayadratha': 'Jayadratha (king of Sindhu)', 'adri': 'mountain (metaphor for an immovable obstacle)', 'purumitra': 'Purumitra (a warrior/ally named Purumitra)', 'gādha': 'deep, profound (of water

• metaphor for depth/difficulty)', 'durmarṣaṇa': 'Durmarṣaṇa (a Kaurava prince)', 'uda': 'water (here: the river’s mass/flow)', 'śakuni': 'Śakuni (Gāndhāra prince, strategist)', 'prapāta': 'waterfall, precipice, plunge (metaphor for sudden destructive force)'}

Speaker

उलूक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Ulūka
• Duḥśāsana
• Śala
• Śalya
• Suṣeṇa
• Citrāyudha
• Jayadratha
• Purumitra
• Durmarṣaṇa
• Śakuni
• ogha (torrent)
• matsya (fish)
• nāga (serpent)
• nakra/makara
• adri (mountain)
• prapāta (waterfall)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse illustrates how rhetoric and metaphor are used as psychological warfare: by depicting allies as a deadly river-system, the speaker seeks to instill fear and project inevitability of defeat. Ethically, it highlights how pride and intimidation can be deployed to provoke conflict rather than pursue reconciliation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ulūka, acting as a messenger aligned with the Kauravas, delivers a provocative message. He enumerates prominent Kaurava-side warriors and compares them to dangerous features of a raging river—torrent, fish, serpents, mountain, deep channel, and waterfall—to threaten and unsettle the Pandavas.