Shloka 2
जानन् वै मोहयसि मां नावि नौरिव संयता | स्वार्थे कि नावधानं ते उताहो द्वेष्टि मां भवान्
jānan vai mohayasi māṃ nāvi naur iva saṃyatā | svārthe kiṃ nāvadhānaṃ te utāho dveṣṭi māṃ bhavān |
Duryodhana said: “Though you know the truth, you still bewilder me—like one boat held fast to another. In pursuing your own interest, have you no caution at all? Or is it that you bear hatred toward me?”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how moral counsel can be misread by a power-seeking mind: Duryodhana interprets corrective guidance as either manipulation or personal hatred, revealing how attachment to self-interest (svārtha) distorts judgment and blocks ethical reflection.
In the Sabha Parva’s court setting, Duryodhana confronts an adviser who speaks with knowledge and restraint. Feeling checked and unsettled, he accuses the adviser of deliberately confusing him and questions whether the adviser is careless about ‘self-interest’ or secretly hostile toward him.