Shloka 3

उत्तरोपदेशः

Uttara’s Fear and Arjuna’s Martial Reassertion

Devanagari script

स्पृष्टवन्तं शरीरं मां शववाहमिवाशुचिम्‌ । कथं वा व्यवहार्य वै कुर्वीथास्त्वं बृहन्नले,बृहन्नले! यदि मैं शवका स्पर्श कर लूँ, तो मुर्दा ढोनेवालोंकी भाँति अपवित्र हो जाऊँगा; फिर तुम मुझे व्यवहारमें लाने योग्य युद्ध कैसे कर सकोगी?

Transliteration

Uttara uvāca: spṛṣṭavantaṁ śarīraṁ māṁ śavavāham ivāśucim | kathaṁ vā vyavahāryaṁ vai kurvīthās tvaṁ bṛhannale bṛhannale ||

Translation

ఉత్తరుడు అన్నాడు—నేను శవాన్ని తాకితే, శవాన్ని మోసేవారిలా అపవిత్రుడనైపోతాను. ఓ బృహన్నలే! అప్పుడు నీవు నన్ను లోకవ్యవహారానికి, యుద్ధానికి తగినవాడిగా ఎలా చేయగలవు?

Word by Word

स्पृष्टवन्तम्having touched

शरीरम्body

माम्me

शववाहम्a corpse-carrier

इवlike, as

अशुचिम्impure

कथम्how?

वाor; indeed (emphatic)

व्यवहार्यम्fit for dealings/usage

वैindeed

कुर्वीथाःyou would make/do

त्वम्you

बृहन्नलेO Brihannalā

Speaker

उत्तर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Uttara

Bṛhannalā

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 highlights the tension between kṣatriya duty in crisis and prevailing norms of ritual purity: Uttara fears that contact with a corpse brings social and ritual defilement, making him unfit for public dealings and thus unfit to act as a warrior.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Virāṭa episode, Prince Uttara speaks to Bṛhannalā (Arjuna in disguise). As he is being urged toward battle, he raises an objection rooted in impurity: if he touches a dead body, he will become aśuci like a corpse-bearer, so he questions how Bṛhannalā could then prepare him for proper participation in war and society.