Shloka 20
Udyoga Parva, Adhyaya 104: Nārada on Suhṛt and Nirbandha; the Viśvāmitra–Gālava Exemplum Begins
त्रैलोक्यमपि मे कृत्स्नमशक्त देहधारणे । अहमेवात्मना5>5त्मानं वहामि त्वां च धारये,“सारी त्रिलोकी मिलकर भी मेरे शरीरका भार वहन करनेमें असमर्थ है। मैं ही अपने द्वारा अपने-आपको ढोता हूँ और तुमको भी धारण करता हूँ
trailokyam api me kṛtsnam aśakta deha-dhāraṇe | aham evātmanātmānaṃ vahāmi tvāṃ ca dhāraye ||
Kaṇva disse: “Mesmo os três mundos por inteiro são incapazes de suportar o peso do meu corpo. Eu sozinho, por mim mesmo, carrego a mim—e também te sustento.”
कण्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that genuine capacity to endure and to uphold others comes from one’s own inner power and discipline. External supports—even imagined as vast as the three worlds—are secondary to self-sustaining strength rooted in self-mastery.
Kaṇva, speaking with the authority of an ascetic, emphasizes his extraordinary self-sufficiency: he bears his own bodily burden by his own power and can also sustain another. The line functions as a forceful assertion of spiritual strength and responsibility within the episode’s dialogue.