Shloka 21
Uttanka’s Viśvarūpa Request and the ‘Uttanka Clouds’ Boon (उत्तङ्क-विष्वरूप-दर्शनम्)
उत्तड़कमुनिकी श्रीकृष्णसे विश्वरूप दिखानेके लिये प्रार्थना भयं च महदुद्दिश्य त्रासिता: कुरवो मया । क्रुद्धेन भूत्वा तु पुनर्यथावदनुदर्शिता:
uttadakamunike śrīkṛṣṇase viśvarūpaṃ darśāne kartum prārthanaṃ; bhayaṃ ca mahad uddiśya trāsitāḥ kuravo mayā | kruddhena bhūtvā tu punar yathāvad anudarśitāḥ; tataḥ krodhena pūrṇaḥ san mayā kauravān mahābhayaiḥ pradarśya bhṛśaṃ trāsitāḥ—yuddhasya bhāvī pariṇāmo ’pi yathārthataḥ darśitaḥ | te tv adharmayuktāḥ kālagrastāś ca; ato mama vacanaṃ na jagṛhuḥ | paścāt kṣatriyadharmānusāreṇa yuddhe hatāḥ | na saṃśayaḥ sarve te svargalokaṃ gatāḥ ||
Vāyu berkata: “Ketika resi Uttadaka memohon kepada Śrī Kṛṣṇa agar menzahirkan Viśvarūpa, aku—dengan maksud menimbulkan ketakutan yang besar—telah menggentarkan kaum Kuru. Kemudian, dalam amarah, aku memperlihatkan kepada mereka, tepat sebagaimana adanya, akibat sebenar yang bakal dibawa oleh perang itu. Namun mereka terikat pada adharma dan digenggam oleh Waktu; maka mereka tidak mahu menerima nasihatku. Sesudah itu, menurut kṣatriya-dharma, mereka gugur di medan perang. Tiada syak: semuanya telah pergi ke syurga.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even strong warnings and clear foreknowledge cannot reform those who are committed to adharma and overtaken by Kāla (inevitability). Yet the epic also affirms a dharmic nuance: death in battle according to kṣatriya-dharma can still lead to heavenly attainment, separating the moral failure of choices from the ritual-ethical status of a warrior’s end.
Vāyu recounts that, in connection with Uttadaka’s prayer for Kṛṣṇa to show the viśvarūpa, he tried to deter the Kurus by frightening them and showing the true future result of the coming war. The Kauravas refused the counsel because they were aligned with adharma and under the grip of Time; they then died in the war as warriors, and Vāyu concludes that they attained heaven.