Shloka 15
Ulūka’s Provocative Envoy-Speech in the Pāṇḍava Camp
Ulūka-dūta-vākya
केचिदीश्वरनिर्दिष्टा: केचिदेव यदृच्छया । पूर्वकर्मभिरप्यन्ये त्रैधमेतत् प्रदृश्यते । तस्मादनर्थमापतन्न: स्थिरो भूत्वा निशामय
ke cid īśvara-nirdiṣṭāḥ ke cid eva yadṛcchayā | pūrva-karmabhir apy anye traidham etat pradṛśyate | tasmād anartham āpatannaḥ sthiro bhūtvā niśāmaya ||
Sañjaya dit : «Les uns agissent sous la direction du Seigneur ; les autres agissent par pur hasard ; et beaucoup d’autres agissent sous l’impulsion de leurs actes passés. Ainsi se manifeste ce triple mode de l’action humaine. C’est pourquoi, maintenant que nous sommes tombés dans ce grave malheur, demeure ferme : écoute d’un esprit apaisé le récit tout entier.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a threefold explanation for why people act: divine prompting (īśvara-nirdiṣṭa), accidental circumstance (yadṛcchā), and the momentum of past deeds (pūrva-karma). Ethically, it urges steadiness of mind in crisis and careful listening before judgment—recognizing that agency can be complex and not reducible to a single cause.
Sañjaya, as the narrator-messenger, prepares his listener to hear a difficult report. Before recounting events, he frames the unfolding calamity as arising through different causal modes (divine, chance, karmic), and he counsels composure—‘be steady and listen’—so the account can be received with clarity rather than agitation.