Shloka 159

Ulūka’s Provocative Envoy-Speech in the Pāṇḍava Camp

Ulūka-dūta-vākya

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते उद्योगपर्वणि सैन्यनिर्याणपर्वणि संजयवाक्ये एकोनषष्ट्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate udyogaparvaṇi sainyaniryāṇaparvaṇi sañjayavākye ekonaṣaṣṭyadhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

Như vậy, trong bộ «Mahābhārata» tôn nghiêm, thuộc «Udyoga Parva»—đặc biệt là phần nói về cuộc xuất quân của các đạo binh—chương thứ 159, gồm lời thuật của Sañjaya, đã kết thúc. Lời kết (colophon) này đánh dấu sự khép lại của một đơn vị tự sự, nhấn mạnh bước chuyển trang trọng khi cuộc xung đột rời khỏi lời khuyên và sự chuẩn bị để tiến vào chiến tranh công khai.

Word by Word

• इति: thus; end-quote marker
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• श्रीमहाभारते: in the revered Mahabharata
• श्रीमहाभारते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रीमहाभारत
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• उद्योगपर्वणि: in the Udyoga-parvan
• उद्योगपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: उद्योगपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• सैन्यनिर्याणपर्वणि: in the (sub-)parvan called 'Departure of the Army'
• सैन्यनिर्याणपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सैन्यनिर्याणपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• संजयवाक्ये: in the speech of Sañjaya
• संजयवाक्ये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: संजयवाक्य
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• एकोनषष्ट्यधिकशततमः: the 159th
• एकोनषष्ट्यधिकशततमः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एकोनषष्ट्यधिकशततम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अध्यायः: chapter
• अध्यायः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Mahābhārata
• Udyoga Parva
• Sainyaniryāṇa Parva

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This is a colophon rather than a doctrinal verse: it teaches attentiveness to textual framing—how epic narration formally signals closure and transition. Ethically, it highlights that the phase of deliberation and mobilization is concluding, implying that choices made in counsel now harden into consequences on the battlefield.

What is happening in the narrative?

The chapter concludes. The text identifies the larger book (Udyoga Parva), the internal section (the mobilization/departure of armies), and the speaker (Sañjaya), and then marks that this is the 159th chapter—functioning as an editorial/narrative boundary before the next unit begins.