Shloka 19
Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization
कथमाभ्यामभि ध्यात: संस्पृष्टो दारुणेन वा । रणे जीवन विमुच्येत पदा भूमिमुपस्पृशन्,'भीष्म और द्रोणने जिसे मारनेका निश्चय कर लिया हो अथवा जो युद्धमें इनके भयंकर अस्त्रोंसे छू गया हो, ऐसा कौन भूतलनिवासी जीवित बच सकता है?
katham ābhyām abhidyātaḥ saṁspṛṣṭo dāruṇena vā | raṇe jīvan vimucyeta padā bhūmim upaspṛśan ||
Ulūka thách thức: “Kẻ nào đã bị Bhīṣma và Droṇa định đoạt cái chết, hoặc chỉ cần bị vũ khí ghê gớm của họ chạm tới giữa chiến trường—làm sao một phàm nhân còn bước trên mặt đất này có thể thoát chết?”
उलूक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how martial reputation and fear can be used as moral-political leverage: by portraying Bhīṣma and Droṇa as inescapable forces, Ulūka frames resistance as futile, aiming to coerce submission rather than invite a dharmic resolution.
Ulūka is delivering a taunting, confidence-building message on behalf of the Kaurava side, asserting that anyone targeted by Bhīṣma and Droṇa—or even grazed by their weapons—cannot survive the battlefield.