Shloka 40

शल्यपर्व — चतुर्विंशोऽध्यायः | Śalya Parva, Chapter 24: Disruption of Kaurava Formations and the Elephant Encirclement

Devanagari script

यावत्‌ प्राणा धरिष्यन्ति धार्तराष्ट्रस्य दुर्मते: । तावद्‌ युष्मास्वपापेषु प्रचरिष्यति पापकम्‌,“दुर्बुद्धि दुर्योधनके प्राण जबतक शरीरमें स्थित रहेंगे, तबतक तुम निष्पाप बन्धुओंपर भी वह पापपूर्ण बर्ताव ही करता रहेगा

Transliteration

yāvat prāṇā dhariṣyanti dhārtarāṣṭrasya durmateḥ | tāvad yuṣmāsv apāpeṣu pracariṣyati pāpakam ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：“只要那心术邪恶的持国之子尚有一息在身，他就会继续作恶——甚至对你们这些无罪的兄弟亦然。”

Word by Word

यावत्as long as

प्राणाःlife-breaths; lives

धरिष्यन्तिwill hold; will remain

धार्तराष्ट्रस्यof Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son (Duryodhana)

दुर्मतेःof the evil-minded one

तावत्so long; until then

युष्मासुamong you; towards you

अपापेषुsinless; blameless

प्रचरिष्यतिwill behave; will act; will proceed

पापकम्evil (conduct); sin

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (by patronymic)

Duryodhana (implied by dhārtarāṣṭra)

the Pāṇḍava brothers (implied by yuṣmāsu, apāpeṣu)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A person fixed in durmati (perverse, unethical resolve) tends to persist in pāpaka (harmful, sinful conduct) as long as the underlying disposition remains unchanged; moral purity in others (apāpa) does not by itself reform such a person.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, characterizes Duryodhana as incorrigibly evil-minded and warns that he will continue wrongful behavior even toward the blameless Pāṇḍava brothers for as long as he lives.