Mahabharata 3.63.7 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 63, Shloka 7
कर्कोटक-उपदेशः
Karkoṭaka’s Counsel and Nala’s Concealment
नाकाले विहितो मृत्युर्म्त्यानां पुरुषर्षभ । तत्र कान्ता त्वयोत्सृष्टा मुहूर्तमपि जीवति
nākāle vihito mṛtyur martyānāṃ puruṣarṣabha | tatra kāntā tvayotsṛṣṭā muhūrtam api jīvati ||
पुरुषश्रेष्ठा! मर्त्यांची मृत्यु असमयी ठरत नाही; म्हणूनच तुझी प्रियतमा, तुझ्याकडून परित्यक्ता होऊनही, तेथे क्षणभर तरी जीवंत आहे.
ब॒हृदश्चव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse affirms a Mahābhārata theme: life and death unfold according to an appointed order of time (kāla). Ethically, it cautions against using ‘she is still alive’ as justification for neglect—survival may simply mean the destined hour has not yet arrived, so one must still act with responsibility and compassion.
Bṛhadaśva addresses a ‘best of men’ and comments that death does not occur prematurely; therefore the man’s beloved, though left behind by him, continues to live even for a short while. The statement functions as both reassurance about fate and a pointed reminder of the moral seriousness of abandoning someone.
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