Shloka 21
कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira
न हि कार्यमकार्य वा सुखं ज्ञातुं कथंचन । श्रुतेन ज्ञायते सर्व तच्च त्वं नावबुध्यसे
na hi kāryam akāryaṃ vā sukhaṃ jñātuṃ kathaṃcana | śrutena jñāyate sarvaṃ tac ca tvaṃ nāvabudhyase ||
قال كريشنا: «لا يستطيع المرء، بأي سبيلٍ يسير، أن يميّز ما ينبغي فعله وما لا ينبغي فعله. إنما يُعرف ذلك كلّه من خلال الشروتي (śruti)—التعليم المقدّس ذي السلطان—ومع ذلك فأنت لا تعيه.»
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral clarity about duty (kārya) and prohibition (akārya) is not gained casually or by convenience; it requires guidance from authoritative sacred teaching (śruti/śāstra). Kṛṣṇa rebukes the listener for lacking or ignoring that grounding.
In the Karṇa Parva battle context, Kṛṣṇa speaks as a moral instructor, pressing that decisions in war and conduct must be judged by dharma as taught in śāstra/śruti, not by impulse, self-interest, or superficial reasoning.