Shloka 6

Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization

Devanagari script

उलूक उवाच इदं त्वामब्रवीद्‌ राजा धार्तराष्ट्री महामना: । शृण्वतां कुरुवीराणां तन्निबोध युधिष्ठिर,उलूक बोला--महाराज युधिष्ठिर! महामना धुृतराष्ट्रपुत्र दुर्योधनने कौरववीरोंके समक्ष आपको यह संदेश कहलाया है, इसे सुनिये

Transliteration

Ulūka uvāca: idaṃ tvām abravīd rājā dhārtarāṣṭrī mahāmanāḥ | śṛṇvatāṃ kuruvīrāṇāṃ tan nibodha yudhiṣṭhira ||

Translation

Улука сказал: «О Юдхиштхира! Царь Дурьодхана, сын Дхритараштры, высокодушный, перед лицом куруйских героев передал тебе это послание. Слушай и уразумей его».

Word by Word

उलूकःUluka

उवाचsaid

इदम्this (message/statement)

त्वाम्you

अब्रवीत्said/told

राजाthe king

धार्तराष्ट्रीson of Dhritarashtra (Duryodhana)

महामनाःgreat-souled

शृण्वताम्while (they) are listening / of those listening

कुरुवीराणाम्of the Kuru heroes/warriors

तत्that (message)

निबोधunderstand; take note

युधिष्ठिरO Yudhishthira

Speaker

उलूक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Ulūka

Yudhiṣṭhira

Duryodhana

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Kuru warriors (Kuru-vīrāḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the ethical weight of speech and diplomacy: a message delivered publicly before warriors is not merely information but a deliberate political act, shaping honor, resolve, and the dharmic framing of the coming conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ulūka, acting as Duryodhana’s messenger, begins delivering Duryodhana’s words to Yudhiṣṭhira, emphasizing that the message was spoken in the hearing of the Kuru heroes—signaling a formal, public, and confrontational communication on the eve of war.