Shloka 70
गदायुद्धप्रतिज्ञा — The Vow and Terms of the Mace Duel
जीवयेयमहं काम॑ न तु त्वं जीवितुं क्षम: । दुर्मते! इस समय तुम्हारा जीवन मेरे हाथपमें है। मैं इच्छानुसार तुम्हें जीवनदान दे सकता हूँ; परंतु तुम स्वेच्छापूर्वक जीवित रहनेमें समर्थ नहीं हो || ६९ ई ।। दहने हि कृतो यत्नस्त्वयास्मासु विशेषत:
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | jīveyam ahaṃ kāmaṃ na tu tvaṃ jīvituṃ kṣamaḥ | durmate! idānīṃ tava jīvitaṃ mama hastagataṃ; aham icchānusāreṇa tvāṃ jīvadānaṃ dātuṃ śaknomi, na tu tvaṃ svacchandayā jīvituṃ samarthaḥ | dahane hi kṛto yatnas tvayāsmāsu viśeṣataḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “I may live if I choose; but you are not capable of living. O evil-minded one, at this moment your life lies in my hands. If I wish, I can grant you life; but you cannot preserve your life by your own will. For you have indeed made a deliberate effort—especially against us—to bring about our destruction.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts true agency with helplessness: moral and martial power can place an opponent’s life under one’s control, yet dharma demands awareness of responsibility. Yudhiṣṭhira frames sparing or killing not as the enemy’s choice but as the victor’s ethical burden, while also recalling the enemy’s prior intent to destroy.
In the Shalya Parva battle context, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses an adversary he has overpowered, declaring that the opponent’s survival depends on Yudhiṣṭhira’s decision. He emphasizes that the foe had earlier made special efforts to bring ruin upon the Pāṇḍavas, thereby justifying stern judgment even while acknowledging the possibility of granting life.