Shloka 30
Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)
तथेति त॑ प्रतिज्ञाय मूषिका भरतर्षभ । वृद्धबालमथो सर्व मार्जाराय न्यवेदयन्
tatheti taṁ pratijñāya mūṣikā bharatarṣabha | vṛddhabālam atho sarvaṁ mārjārāya nyavedayan ||
三阇耶说道：“就这样吧。”诸鼠答应了，噢，婆罗多族中的雄牛。既已允诺，它们便将整个族群——老者与幼幼无遗——交付于猫。此事昭示：不加审察的顺从与对掠食之权的错信，足以把一整个社会，连同最脆弱者，一并推向覆灭。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that agreeing too readily to a powerful adversary’s terms—without discernment—can endanger an entire community. Ethical prudence (nīti) requires testing intentions, especially when the vulnerable (elders and children) will bear the cost of a wrong decision.
The mice respond “tathā” (“so be it”) and formally agree. Then they entrust their whole group, including elders and children, to the cat—an act that highlights their surrender to a natural predator and sets up the moral point about deception and imprudent submission.