Shloka 8

Ulūka’s Provocative Envoy-Speech in the Pāṇḍava Camp

Ulūka-dūta-vākya

Devanagari script

संजय उवाच त्वद्युक्तोडयमनुप्रश्नो महाराज यथेच्छसि । नतु दुर्योधने दोषमिममाधातुमरहसि

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca tvadyukto ’yam anupraśno mahārāja yathecchasi | na tu duryodhane doṣam imam ādhātum arhasi ||

Translation

Sañjaya thưa: “Tâu đại vương, câu hỏi tiếp theo của bệ hạ là hợp lẽ, bệ hạ muốn hỏi thế nào cũng được. Nhưng bệ hạ không nên đổ hết tội lỗi của cuộc chiến này lên riêng Duryodhana.”

Word by Word

• संजयः: Sanjaya
• संजयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: संजय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• त्वया: by you
• त्वया: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Instrumental, Singular

• युक्तः: proper/appropriate
• Type: Adjective
• Root: युक्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अयम्: this
• अयम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अनुप्रश्नः: follow-up question/inquiry
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनुप्रश्न
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• यथा: as/according as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• इच्छसि: you wish/desire
• Type: Verb
• Root: इष्
• Form: Present (Laṭ), 2nd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• तु: but/however
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• दुर्योधने: in/onto Duryodhana (i.e., upon Duryodhana)
• दुर्योधने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर्योधन
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• दोषम्: fault/blame
• दोषम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दोष
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• इमम्: this
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• आधातुम्: to place/impute/lay (blame)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-धा
• Form: Infinitive (Tumun)

• अर्हसि: you ought/are fit
• Type: Verb
• Root: अर्ह्
• Form: Present (Laṭ), 2nd, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Dhritarashtra
• Duryodhana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Moral responsibility for a great calamity like war should not be simplistically assigned to a single person; a ruler must examine broader causes, shared agency, and the ethical failures that enable conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya addresses Dhritarashtra, affirming that the king’s questioning is appropriate, but cautions him against attributing the entire fault of the impending war solely to Duryodhana.