Shloka 71
Ulūka’s Provocation and Keśava’s Counter-Message (उलूकदूत्ये केशवप्रत्युत्तरम्)
युध्यस्वाद्य स्थिरो भूत्वा पश्यामस्तव पौरुषम् | युधिष्ठिरानुरागं च द्वेषं च मयि भारत । कृष्णायाश्व परिक््लेशं स्मरेदानीं यथातथम्
sañjaya uvāca | yudhyasvādya sthiro bhūtvā paśyāmas tava pauruṣam | yudhiṣṭhirānurāgaṃ ca dveṣaṃ ca mayi bhārata | kṛṣṇāyāś ca parikleśaṃ smaredānīṃ yathātatham ulūka |
桑阇耶说道：“今日当稳立而战，让我们见识你的男儿武勇。噢，婆罗多，要牢牢记住——你对坚战的情义，你对我愈加深重的仇恨，以及黑公主（德劳帕蒂）所忍受的苦楚。乌卢迦啊，就让他此刻按原样回想这一切。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war rhetoric often weaponizes memory—loyalty, resentment, and past humiliation—to harden resolve. Ethically, it shows the tension between righteous duty (steadfastness in battle) and the corrosive power of hatred and grievance as motivations.
Sañjaya reports a taunting exhortation addressed to Ulūka: the speaker urges a Bhārata warrior to fight firmly and to recall his attachment to Yudhiṣṭhira, his hostility toward the opponent, and Draupadī’s past suffering—using these as fuel to provoke combat and display valor.