Shloka 80
Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)
एवमुक्त्वा ततो राजा प्रहस्योलूकमब्रवीत् । धनंजयं पुनर्ब्रूहि वासुदेवस्य शृण्वत:
evam uktvā tato rājā prahasyolūkam abravīt | dhanañjayaṁ punar brūhi vāsudevasya śṛṇvataḥ ||
Setelah berkata demikian, Raja Duryodhana tertawa terbahak dan berkata kepada Ulūka: “Pergilah, sampaikan lagi pesanku kepada Dhanañjaya (Arjuna)—ucapkan itu ketika Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa) sendiri sedang mendengarkan.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how arrogance and mockery can become instruments of adharma: Duryodhana seeks to shame and provoke Arjuna openly, even before Kṛṣṇa, showing a will to escalate conflict rather than pursue restraint or reconciliation.
Sañjaya narrates that Duryodhana, after speaking, laughs and instructs his messenger Ulūka to repeat a message to Arjuna, explicitly to be spoken in Kṛṣṇa’s hearing—framing the message as a public challenge and intensifying the prelude to war.