Shloka 29
Udyoga Parva, Adhyaya 104: Nārada on Suhṛt and Nirbandha; the Viśvāmitra–Gālava Exemplum Begins
न हि ज्ञातं बल देव मया ते परमं विभो । तेन मन्ये हाहं वीर्यमात्मनो न सम॑ परै:
na hi jñātaṃ bala deva mayā te paramaṃ vibho | tena manye hāhaṃ vīryam ātmano na samaṃ paraiḥ ||
Kaṇva dit : «Ô seigneur puissant, ô Toi qui pénètres tout : je n’ai pas vraiment connu la pleine mesure de ta puissance suprême. C’est pourquoi je comprends à présent — hélas ! — que ma propre vaillance n’égale pas celle des autres (des véritables puissants).»
कण्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights humility born of insight: recognizing a higher power and admitting one’s own limitations is ethically superior to pride, and it encourages restraint and reverence in action.
Kaṇva addresses a revered, powerful figure as “Deva” and “Vibhu,” confessing that he had not understood the other’s supreme strength; this realization leads him to regretfully reassess his own valor as not comparable.