Shloka 20
Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization
कि दर्दुरः कूपशयो यथेमां न बुध्यसे राजचमूं समेताम् । दुराधर्षा देवचमूप्रकाशां गुप्तां नरेन्द्रैस्त्रिदशैरिव द्याम्ू
kiṁ darduraḥ kūpaśayo yathemāṁ na budhyase rājacamūṁ sametām | durādharṣā devacamūprakāśāṁ guptāṁ narendrais tridāśair iva dyām ||
Sinabi ni Ulūka: “Bakit, gaya ng palakang nakatira sa ilalim ng balon, hindi mo maunawaan ang nagkakatipong hukbong maharlika? Mahirap itong salakayin, maningning na tulad ng hukbo ng mga diyos, at binabantayan ng mga hari—gaya ng langit na binabantayan ng Tatlumpu’t Tatlong diyos.”
उलूक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the 'frog in a well' image to criticize narrow perception and overconfidence born of limited experience; it urges a realistic appraisal of power and circumstances, warning that ignorance of the wider world leads to poor judgment in conflict.
Ulūka taunts his opponent by praising the assembled royal host as nearly invincible, comparing its protection by kings to heaven being guarded by the Thirty-three gods, thereby attempting to intimidate and assert the Kaurava side’s strength.