Shloka 101
Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)
कथमाभ्यामभि ध्यात: संस्पृष्टो दारुणेन वा । रणे जीवन प्रमुच्येत पदा भूमिमुपस्पृशन्,'ये दोनों द्रोण और भीष्म जिसे मारनेका निश्चय कर लें अथवा उनके भयानक अस्त्र आदिसे जिसके शरीरका स्पर्श हो जाय, ऐसा कोई भी भूतल-निवासी मरणधर्मा मनुष्य युद्धमें जीवित कैसे बच सकता है?
katham ābhyām abhidyātaḥ saṃspṛṣṭo dāruṇena vā | raṇe jīvan pramucyeta padā bhūmim upaspṛśan ||
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “Paano makaliligtas ang sinumang mortal na lumalakad sa lupa sa gitna ng digmaan—kung si Bhishma at si Drona ay nagpasya nang patayin siya, o kung masagi man lamang siya ng kanilang nakapanghihilakbot na mga sandata?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the vulnerability of ordinary mortals before the resolve and martial mastery of eminent warriors, raising an ethical awareness of war’s disproportionate power and the near-inevitability of death when great forces are set against an individual.
Sanjaya emphasizes to the listener that if Bhishma and Drona decide to kill someone, or if their fearsome weapons even make contact, survival in battle seems impossible for any earth-dwelling mortal—intensifying the sense of impending catastrophe in the lead-up to war.