Shloka 13
Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization
सूतपुत्र॑ सदुर्धर्ष शल्यं च बलिनां वरम्,'पार्थ! अत्यन्त दुर्जय वीर सूतपुत्र कर्ण, बलवानोंमें श्रेष्ठ शल्य तथा युद्धमें शचीपति इन्द्रके समान पराक्रमी महाबली द्रोणको युद्धमें जीते बिना तुम यहाँ राज्य कैसे लेना चाहते हो?
Sūtaputraḥ sa durdharṣaḥ Śalyaṁ ca balināṁ varam, Pārtha! atyanta-durjayaṁ vīra sūtaputraṁ Karṇaṁ, balavatāṁ-śreṣṭhaṁ Śalyaṁ tathā yuddhe Śacīpati-Indra-sadṛśa-parākramī mahābalī Droṇaṁ ca yuddhe jitvā vinā tvaṁ iha rājyaṁ kathaṁ grahītuṁ icchasi?
ウルーカは言った。「おおパールタよ。戦場でまず、御者の子にして不落のカルナ、強者の中の第一たるシャリヤ、そして戦において舎脂の主インドラにも比すべき武威を持つ大ドローナを打ち破らずして、どうしてここで王国を得ようというのか。」
उलूक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames royal legitimacy in a kṣatriya context: sovereignty is not merely claimed but must be secured against formidable opponents through valor and victory. It also exposes the ethical tension between rightful claim and the violent means by which political order is decided in epic warfare.
Ulūka, speaking for the Kaurava side, taunts and challenges the Pāṇḍavas (addressing Pārtha) by naming Kaurava champions—Karṇa, Śalya, and Droṇa—and argues that the Pāṇḍavas cannot hope to take the kingdom unless they first defeat these warriors in battle.