Shloka 33
Udyoga Parva, Adhyaya 104: Nārada on Suhṛt and Nirbandha; the Viśvāmitra–Gālava Exemplum Begins
कण्व उवाच तथा त्वमपि गान्धारे यावत् पाण्डुसुतान् रणे । नासादयसि तान् वीरांस्तावज्जीवसि पुत्रक
kaṇva uvāca tathā tvam api gāndhāre yāvat pāṇḍusutān raṇe | nāsādayasi tān vīrāṁs tāvaj jīvasi putraka ||
Kaṇva said: “So you too, O son of Gāndhārī—dear child—so long as you do not meet those heroic sons of Pāṇḍu on the battlefield face to face, only so long do you continue to live.”
कण्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that reckless hostility and pride-driven insistence on war lead toward self-destruction: Duryodhana’s life is portrayed as hanging on the moment he truly confronts the Pāṇḍavas, implying that unrighteous aggression invites inevitable ruin.
Sage Kaṇva addresses Duryodhana (as ‘son of Gāndhārī’) and delivers a sharp admonition: until Duryodhana actually meets the Pāṇḍavas in battle, he remains alive—suggesting that the coming confrontation will be fatal and that his course is perilous.