Shloka 4
अध्याय ८० — मध्यंदिन-रणवृत्तान्तः
Yudhiṣṭhira–Śrutāyu encounter; Cekitāna–Gautama clash; Abhimanyu pressure; Arjuna’s redeployment
आत्मनैव कृतं कर्म आत्मनैवोपभुज्यते । इह च प्रेत्य वा राजंस्त्वया प्राप्त यथातथम्,राजन्! इहलोक अथवा परलोकमें अपने किये हुए कर्मका फल अपने-आपको ही भोगना पड़ता है; अत: आपको जैसेका तैसा प्राप्त हुआ है
ātmanāiva kṛtaṃ karma ātmanāivopabhujyate | iha ca pretya vā rājan tvayā prāptaṃ yathātatham ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Eine Tat, die einer selbst vollbringt, deren Frucht erfährt auch nur er selbst. Ob hier in dieser Welt oder nach dem Tod, o König: Was dich erreicht hat, ist genau so, wie du gehandelt hast.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts moral causality and personal responsibility: one’s actions (karma) inevitably yield results that one must personally experience, whether in this life or after death; thus events are ‘as deserved’ rather than arbitrary.
Sañjaya addresses the king (Dhṛtarāṣṭra), framing the unfolding suffering and outcomes of the war as consequences of prior choices and deeds, urging an ethical reading of events rather than blaming others or mere chance.