Shloka 6
Ulūpī–Citravāhinī Saṃvāda: Dhanaṃjaya-patana and Prāya-threat
“तुझ दुर्बुद्धिको धिक्कार है, तू निश्चय ही क्षत्रियधर्मसे भ्रष्ट हो गया है, क्योंकि युद्धके लिये आये हुए मेरा स्वागत-सत्कार तू सामनीतिसे कर रहा है ।।
tujha durbuddhiko dhikkāra hai, tvaṁ niścaya hī kṣatriyadharmase bhraṣṭa ho gayā hai, kyoṅki yuddhake liye āe hue merā svāgata-satkāra tū sāmānītise kar rahā hai. na tvayā puruṣārtho hi kaścid astīha jīvatā | yas tvam strīvad yathāprāptaṁ māṁ sāmnā pratyagṛhṇathāḥ ||
“Malulah akan akalmu yang songsang! Engkau benar-benar telah menyimpang daripada dharma kṣatriya, kerana engkau hendak menyambut dan memujuk aku—walaupun aku datang untuk berperang—dengan siasat pendamaian. Sesungguhnya, meski hidup di dunia ini, engkau tidak pernah melakukan sebarang usaha gagah; maka seperti seorang perempuan engkau cuba mengambil aku, yang datang sebagaimana adanya (untuk bertempur), dengan pujukan damai.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts kṣatriya-dharma (martial honor and readiness to meet a challenger in battle) with sāma-nīti (conciliation). It criticizes using soft diplomacy toward an opponent who has come explicitly for combat, framing it as a lapse from the warrior’s ethical role and as a failure of puruṣārtha (courageous exertion).
A speaker harshly rebukes a kṣatriya for attempting to welcome and pacify an arriving adversary through conciliation rather than responding in the expected martial manner. The opponent is described as having come ‘for battle,’ and the addressee is accused of abandoning the warrior code by trying to ‘take’ him through peaceful persuasion.