Shloka 36
Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization
न माया हीन्द्रजालं वा कुहका वापि भीषणा | आत्तशस्त्रस्य मे युद्धे वहन्ति प्रतिगर्जना:
na māyā hīndrajālaṃ vā kuhakā vāpi bhīṣaṇā | āttaśastrasya me yuddhe vahanti pratigarjanāḥ ||
نہ مایا، نہ اندرجال، نہ کوئی ہولناک فریب مجھے متزلزل کر سکتا ہے۔ میدانِ جنگ میں ہتھیار اٹھائے ہوئے میرے لیے یہ سب محض میری جوابی گرج—میرے غضب اور شیرانہ للکار—کو اور بڑھاتے ہیں۔
उलूक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a warrior’s stance of fearlessness: deceptive displays and frightening tricks should not unsettle one who is resolute and prepared. Ethically, it also points to the tension between straightforward valor and reliance on illusion or deceit in war.
Ulūka, acting as a messenger and provocateur in the lead-up to the Kurukṣetra war, boasts that magical illusions or terrifying stratagems cannot intimidate him; instead, they only intensify his defiant response and battle-fury.