Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization
सा वो दास्ये समापन्नान् मोक्षयामास पार्षती । अमानुष्यं समापन्नान् दासकर्मण्यवस्थितान्
sā vo dāsye samāpannān mokṣayāmāsa pārṣatī | amānuṣyaṃ samāpannān dāsakarmaṇy avasthitān |
Ulūka berkata: “Ketika kamu semua telah jatuh ke dalam keadaan perhambaan—direndahkan ke nasib yang hina, tidak layak bagi seorang lelaki, dan terikat pada kerja seorang hamba—Pārṣatī (Draupadī), puteri Drupada, itulah yang membebaskan kamu daripada krisis belenggu itu.”
उलूक उवाच
The verse highlights the ethical shame of being reduced to servitude through adharma and the moral force of liberation: dignity lost through injustice can be restored by steadfast righteousness and courageous intervention—here attributed to Draupadī.
Ulūka, speaking as a messenger in the Udyoga Parva, taunts the opposing side by recalling an earlier humiliation: the addressees had fallen into a state of slavery, and Draupadī (Drupada’s daughter) was the one who delivered them from that bondage.