Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)
कि दर्दुर: कूपशयो यथेमां न बुध्यसे राजचमूं समेताम् । दुराधर्षा देवचमूप्रकाशां गुप्तां नरेन्द्रैस्त्रिदशैरिव द्याम्ू
ki darduraḥ kūpaśayaḥ yathemāṃ na budhyase rājacamūṃ sametām | durādharṣā devacamūprakāśāṃ guptāṃ narendrais tridāśair iva dyām ||
三阇耶说道:“你为何如井底之蛙一般,不明白这汇集而来的王师?它难以攻破,光耀如天军,又有诸王守护——正如天界由三十三天神守护一般。”
संजय उवाच
The verse warns against narrow, provincial judgment (“frog in a well” mentality). Ethical discernment in politics and war requires seeing the true scale of forces and alliances rather than clinging to limited personal assumptions.
Sañjaya rebukes his addressee for underestimating the assembled Kaurava host, describing it as formidable and divinely radiant, protected like heaven by the gods—emphasizing the vastness and strength of the coalition.