Shloka 19
दैव–पुरुषकार-प्रश्नः
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Inquiry: Fate and Human Effort
स्वं चेत् कर्मफलं न स्यात् सर्वमेवाफलं भवेत् । लोको दैवं समालक्ष्य उदासीनो भवेन्ननु
svaṁ cet karmaphalaṁ na syāt sarvam evāphalaṁ bhavet | loko daivaṁ samālakṣya udāsīno bhaven nanu ||
যদি নিজৰ কৰ্মৰ উচিত ফল নাপোৱা যায়, তেন্তে সকলো কৰ্মেই নিষ্ফল হৈ পৰে। তেতিয়া লোকসকলে ভাগ্যকেই নিৰ্ণায়ক বুলি ধৰি নিশ্চয় উদাসীন হৈ পৰিব আৰু প্ৰচেষ্টা-পুরুষাৰ্থ ত্যাগ কৰিব।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma argues that moral and practical life depends on the meaningfulness of action: if actions did not produce results, society would collapse into passivity, with people blaming fate and abandoning responsible effort. The verse supports the ethical necessity of karma-phala (action having consequences) and warns against fatalism.
In the Anushasana Parva’s instruction setting, Bhishma continues his didactic discourse on dharma. Here he makes a reasoning-based point: denying the efficacy of one’s own action would render all endeavors pointless and make people indifferent, since they would look only to destiny.