Shloka 60
भीष्मविक्रमदर्शनं तथा क्रौञ्चारुणव्यूहविधानम् | Bhīṣma’s Ascendancy and the Organization of the Krauñcāruṇa Formation
स्वभावजेन कौन्तेयः निबद्धः स्वेन कर्मणा । कर्तु नेच्छसि यन्मोहात् करिष्यस्यवशो5पि तत्
svabhāvajena kaunteyaḥ nibaddhaḥ svena karmaṇā | kartuṁ necchasi yan mohāt kariṣyasy avaśo 'pi tat ||
O Sohn der Kuntī, gebunden durch dein eigenes, aus deiner Natur geborenes Handeln, wirst du gezwungen sein, eben jene Tat zu vollbringen, die du aus Verblendung nicht tun willst. Die Kraft deiner tief eingeprägten Neigung und früheren Übung wird dich antreiben, selbst gegen dein gegenwärtiges Zögern—und zeigt: Das Ausweichen vor der rechtmäßigen Pflicht befreit nicht von Verantwortung, sondern verstrickt nur tiefer in Verwirrung.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person cannot truly escape action: one’s ingrained nature (svabhāva) and the momentum of one’s own past conduct (karma) compel behavior. Therefore, refusing one’s rightful duty out of delusion does not remove obligation; it leads to being driven by compulsion rather than acting with clarity and responsibility.
In the Bhīṣma Parva’s battlefield instruction context, Arjuna is being addressed as ‘son of Kuntī’ and warned that even if he presently refuses to act due to confusion, his own warrior disposition and prior commitments will force him into action anyway—highlighting the futility of avoidance and the need for conscious alignment with dharma.