Shloka 37

उलूकदूतवाक्यम् / Ulūka’s Message to the Pāṇḍavas

Devanagari script

तथैव चाभिगम्यैनमुवाच वसुधाधिप: । प्रत्याख्यातश्न॒ तेनापि स तदा शूरमानिना,दुर्योधनसे मिलकर राजा रुक्मीने उससे भी वैसी ही बातें कहीं। तब अपनेको शूरवीर माननेवाले दुर्योधनने भी उसकी सहायता लेनेसे इन्कार कर दिया

Transliteration

tathaiva cābhigamyainam uvāca vasudhādhipaḥ | pratyākhyātaś ca tenāpi sa tadā śūramāninā ||

Translation

அதேபோல் பூமியின் அதிபதி ருக்மி அவனிடம் சென்று அதே வார்த்தைகளைச் சொன்னான்; ஆனால் அப்போது தன்னைப் பெருவீரன் எனக் கருதிய துரியோதனனும் அவனை மறுத்தான்.

Word by Word

तथाthus, in the same way

एवindeed, just

चand

अभिगम्यhaving approached

एनम्him

उवाचsaid, spoke

वसुधा-अधिपःthe lord of the earth (king)

प्रत्याख्यातःrejected, refused

चand

तेनby him

अपिalso, even

सःhe

तदाthen

शूर-मानिनाby (one) considering himself a hero

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Vasudhādhipa (a king)

Duryodhana (implied by context)

Rukmī (implied by context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how ahamkāra (self-conceit) and the desire to appear heroic can lead to rejecting potentially stabilizing counsel or alliances, thereby accelerating conflict and ethical decline.

What is happening in the narrative?

A king approaches and speaks to a person in the same way as earlier, but is again refused; the refusal is attributed to a warrior who considers himself a great hero—contextually, this points to Duryodhana declining assistance (notably associated in the chapter’s narrative with Rukmī).