Shloka 101

Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)

Devanagari script

कथमाभ्यामभि ध्यात: संस्पृष्टो दारुणेन वा । रणे जीवन प्रमुच्येत पदा भूमिमुपस्पृशन्‌,'ये दोनों द्रोण और भीष्म जिसे मारनेका निश्चय कर लें अथवा उनके भयानक अस्त्र आदिसे जिसके शरीरका स्पर्श हो जाय, ऐसा कोई भी भूतल-निवासी मरणधर्मा मनुष्य युद्धमें जीवित कैसे बच सकता है?

Transliteration

katham ābhyām abhidyātaḥ saṃspṛṣṭo dāruṇena vā | raṇe jīvan pramucyeta padā bhūmim upaspṛśan ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : «Comment un mortel, qui foule la terre, pourrait-il échapper vivant au combat—si Bhishma et Drona ont résolu de l’abattre, ou s’il n’est-ce qu’effleuré par leurs armes redoutables ?»

Word by Word

कथम्how?

आभ्याम्by those two

अभिध्यातःresolved upon / intended (to be slain)

संस्पृष्टःtouched / struck

दारुणेनby a dreadful (weapon etc.)

वाor

रणेin battle

जीवन्alive / living

प्रमुच्येतcould be released / escape

पदाwith (his) foot

भूमिम्the ground/earth

उपस्पृशन्touching (the ground)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Drona

Bhishma

dāruṇa astra (dreadful weapons)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the vulnerability of ordinary mortals before the resolve and martial mastery of eminent warriors, raising an ethical awareness of war’s disproportionate power and the near-inevitability of death when great forces are set against an individual.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya emphasizes to the listener that if Bhishma and Drona decide to kill someone, or if their fearsome weapons even make contact, survival in battle seems impossible for any earth-dwelling mortal—intensifying the sense of impending catastrophe in the lead-up to war.