Shloka 17
Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization
अनिलो वा वहेन्मेरुं द्यौर्वापि निपतेन्महीम् । युगं वा परिवर्तेत यद्येवं स््थादू यथा55तथ माम्
anilo vā vahen meruṃ dyaur vāpi nipaten mahīm | yugaṃ vā parivarteta yadyevaṃ syād yathā tathā mām ||
Ulūka berkata: “Jika apa yang engkau katakan tentang diriku benar-benar menjadi nyata tepat seperti itu, maka hal-hal mustahil pun akan terjadi: angin akan mengangkat Gunung Meru, langit akan jatuh menimpa bumi, atau zaman (yuga) sendiri akan terbalik berubah.”
उलूक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates rhetorical hyperbole: when a claim violates established reality or character, it is dismissed as possible only if the cosmic order itself were overturned. Ethically, it reflects hardened hostility and refusal to concede—an attitude that escalates conflict rather than seeking reconciliation.
In Udyoga Parva’s pre-war exchanges, Ulūka speaks in a confrontational tone. He rejects what the other party says about him (or expects of him), declaring it so implausible that it would require impossible cosmic events—wind moving Meru, heaven falling to earth, or a yuga changing.