Shloka 37
उलूकदूतवाक्यम् / Ulūka’s Message to the Pāṇḍavas
तथैव चाभिगम्यैनमुवाच वसुधाधिप: । प्रत्याख्यातश्न॒ तेनापि स तदा शूरमानिना
tathaiva cābhigamyainam uvāca vasudhādhipaḥ | pratyākhyātaś ca tenāpi sa tadā śūramāninā ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : «Le seigneur de la terre (le roi) s’approcha de lui de la même manière et parla de même. Mais lui aussi fut éconduit ; car, en ce temps-là, celui qui se glorifiait d’être un grand héros le repoussa.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how ahamkāra (self-conceit) and the desire to appear heroic can lead to rejecting potentially stabilizing counsel or alliances, thereby accelerating conflict and ethical decline.
A king approaches and speaks to a person in the same way as earlier, but is again refused; the refusal is attributed to a warrior who considers himself a great hero—contextually, this points to Duryodhana declining assistance (notably associated in the chapter’s narrative with Rukmī).