Shloka 27
Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization
नतु पर्यायधर्मेण राज्यं प्राप्रोति मानुष: । मनसैवानुकूलानि विधाता कुरुते वशे
na tu paryāya-dharmeṇa rājyaṃ prāpnoti mānuṣaḥ | manasaivānukūlāni vidhātā kurute vaśe ||
Ulūka berkata: “Seseorang tidak memperoleh kedaulatan hanya dengan dharma yang sekadar nama dan adat lahiriah. Sebaliknya, Sang Penentu—takdir itu sendiri—dengan satu kehendak semata, membengkokkan peristiwa dan manusia kepada yang menguntungkan, lalu menundukkannya di bawah kuasa.”
उलूक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts outward, merely conventional ‘dharma’ with the decisive force of vidhātā (Providence/Fate): political power is not secured by a token display of righteousness; outcomes are portrayed as being shaped by a higher ordering will that can make circumstances compliant.
In Udyoga Parva, Ulūka speaks as a messenger in the tense pre-war diplomacy. Here he advances a hard-edged, fatalistic argument meant to unsettle moral claims and emphasize that success in gaining or holding a kingdom depends less on professed dharma and more on the overpowering turn of destiny.