Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization
सूदकर्मणि च श्रान्तं विराटस्य महानसे । भीमसेनेन कौन्तेय यच्च तन््मम पौरुषम्
sūdakarmaṇi ca śrāntaṃ virāṭasya mahānase | bhīmasenena kaunteya yac ca tan mama pauruṣam ||
اے کُنتی کے بیٹے! وِراٹ راجہ کے عظیم باورچی خانے میں باورچی کے کام پر لگ کر تمہارے بھائی بھیم سین نے جو جان توڑ مشقت سہی—وہ بھی میرے ہی پَورُش (زورِ بازو) کا پھل ہے۔
उलूक उवाच
The verse highlights how pride and taunting are used as weapons: Ulūka claims credit for the Pāṇḍavas’ enforced humiliation, illustrating adharma in speech—deriding another’s hardship to provoke anger and destabilize resolve.
Ulūka, speaking as a hostile envoy, mocks the Pāṇḍavas by recalling their incognito exile at Virāṭa’s court—specifically Bhīma’s disguise as a cook in the royal kitchen—and boasts that this suffering was caused by his side’s power.