Shloka 9

Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)

Devanagari script

वासुदेवसहायस्य गर्जत: सानुजस्य ते । मध्ये कुरूणां कौन्तेय तस्य कालो5यमागत:

Transliteration

vāsudeva-sahāyasya garjataḥ sānujaśya te | madhye kurūṇāṃ kaunteya tasya kālo ’yam āgataḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya nói: “Hỡi con của Kuntī, giờ khắc đã đến—để người chiến binh gầm vang nơi chiến địa, có các em kề bên, được Vāsudeva nâng đỡ—đứng ngay giữa hàng ngũ Kuru. Với Kṛṣṇa làm chỗ nương, thời điểm định mệnh cho hành động quyết định của chàng đã tới.”

Word by Word

वासुदेवof Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)

सहायस्यof the helper/ally

गर्जतःof (him) roaring

सानुजस्यof (him) with his younger brother

तेof you/your

मध्येin the midst

कुरूणाम्of the Kurus

कौन्तेयO son of Kuntī

तस्यof him/of that

कालःtime (the destined time)

अयम्this

आगतःhas come/has arrived

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)

Kaunteya (son of Kuntī)

Kurus

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical and spiritual idea that decisive action in a dharmic struggle requires both personal courage and right guidance; with Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa) as support, the hero’s fateful moment (kāla) arrives, implying responsibility to act when the time for duty comes.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya addresses a Kaunteya and points to a warrior—lion-roaring, accompanied by his younger brother(s), and aided by Vāsudeva—who is now poised amid the Kuru forces; the statement marks the arrival of the critical moment for confrontation.