Shloka 123

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

Devanagari script

दुःशासनौघं शलशल्यमत्स्यं सुषेणचित्रायुधनागनक्रम्‌ । जयद्रथाद्रिं पुरुमित्रगाधं दुर्मर्षणोदं शकुनिप्रपातम्‌

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

duḥśāsanaughaṃ śalaśalyamatsyaṃ suṣeṇacitrāyudhanāganakram |

jayadrathādriṃ purumitragādhaṃ durmarṣaṇodaṃ śakuniprapātam ||

Translation

वह सेना उफनती नदी के समान है—दुःशासन उसका तीव्र प्रवाह है; शल और शल्य उसके मत्स्य हैं; सुषेण और चित्रायुध उसके नाग और मकर के समान हैं; जयद्रथ पर्वत के समान अडिग है; पुरुमित्र उसकी गम्भीर धारा है; दुर्मर्षण उसका जल है; और शकुनि उसका प्रपात (झरना) बनकर गिरता है।

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'duḥśāsana', 'definition': 'Duḥśāsana

• a prominent Kaurava prince, here likened to the river’s violent flow'}, {'term': 'ogha / augha (aughaṃ)', 'definition': 'a flood, mass, rushing stream

• a powerful surge'}, {'term': 'śala', 'definition': 'Śala

• a warrior/ally named Śala, here compared to a fish'}, {'term': 'śalya', 'definition': 'Śalya

• king of Madra, here compared to a fish'}, {'term': 'matsya (matsyaṃ)', 'definition': 'fish

• metaphor for dangerous life within the torrent'}, {'term': 'suṣeṇa', 'definition': 'Suṣeṇa

• a warrior/ally, here compared to a serpent'}, {'term': 'citrāyudha', 'definition': 'Citrāyudha

• a warrior/ally, here compared to a crocodile/makara-like threat'}, {'term': 'nāga', 'definition': 'serpent

• emblem of hidden danger'}, {'term': 'nakra', 'definition': 'crocodile

• a peril in deep waters'}, {'term': 'jayadratha', 'definition': 'Jayadratha

• king of Sindhu, here likened to a mountain obstructing/fortifying the river'}, {'term': 'adri (ādriṃ)', 'definition': 'mountain'}, {'term': 'purumitra', 'definition': 'Purumitra

• a warrior/ally, here described as the river’s depth'}, {'term': 'gādha (gādhaṃ)', 'definition': 'deep, unfathomable

• depth of water'}, {'term': 'durmarṣaṇa', 'definition': 'Durmarṣaṇa

• a Kaurava prince, here identified with the water itself'}, {'term': 'uda (odaṃ)', 'definition': 'water'}, {'term': 'śakuni', 'definition': 'Śakuni

• Gandhāra prince, emblem of deceitful counsel, here the waterfall'}, {'term': 'prapāta (prapātam)', 'definition': 'waterfall, precipice-fall

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Duḥśāsana
• Śala
• Śalya
• Suṣeṇa
• Citrāyudha
• Jayadratha
• Purumitra
• Durmarṣaṇa
• Śakuni
• nāga (serpent)
• nakra (crocodile)
• adri (mountain)
• prapāta (waterfall)
• augha (flood/stream)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that collective power becomes most dangerous when driven by adharma: brute force (the flood), hidden threats (serpents/crocodiles), and manipulative intelligence (Śakuni as the waterfall) combine to overwhelm opponents. It cautions that unethical strategy can amplify violence like a river turned into a destructive torrent.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is describing the Kaurava side through an extended river metaphor, assigning leading figures to features of a perilous flood—current, creatures, depth, mountain, and waterfall—so the listener grasps both the scale of the force and the kinds of dangers it contains (open aggression and covert treachery).