Shloka 21

Adhyāya 123 — Droṇa’s Pedagogy: Arjuna’s Preeminence, Ekalavya’s Self-Training, and the Bhāsa-Lakṣya Trial

Devanagari script

दैवे पुरुषकारे च लोको<यं सम्प्रतिष्ठित: । तत्र दैवं तु विधिना कालयुक्तेन लभ्यते,यह संसार दैव तथा पुरुषार्थपर अवलम्बित है। इनमें दैव तभी सुलभ (सफल) होता है, जब समयपर उद्योग किया जाय

Transliteration

daive puruṣakāre ca loko 'yaṃ sampratiṣṭhitaḥ | tatra daivaṃ tu vidhinā kālayuktena labhyate ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Diese Welt ruht auf beidem: auf Schicksal (dem göttlichen Faktor) und auf menschlichem Bemühen. Doch selbst das, was man ‘Schicksal’ nennt, trägt nur dann Frucht, wenn man auf rechte Weise und zur rechten Zeit handelt.“

Word by Word

दैवेin fate / in the divine factor

पुरुषकारेin human effort

चand

लोकःthe world

अयम्this

सम्प्रतिष्ठितःis established / rests

तत्रthere / among them

दैवम्fate / the divine factor

तुbut / indeed

विधिनाby method / by proper procedure

कालयुक्तेनwith (proper) time joined; timely

लभ्यतेis obtained / is attained

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

loka (the world)

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?

The verse teaches a balanced ethic: life is shaped by both daiva (destiny/providence) and puruṣakāra (human effort). Even ‘destiny’ becomes fruitful only when one follows proper means (vidhi) and acts at the right time (kāla).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, in the course of narrating the Mahābhārata, offers a reflective maxim on causality and conduct—framing events as arising from a conjunction of providence and timely, methodical human initiative.