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 ||
Kṛṣṇa sprach: „Man kann auf keine leichte Weise erkennen, was zu tun ist und was nicht zu tun ist. All dies wird durch śruti — die maßgebliche heilige Überlieferung — erkannt, und doch begreifst du es nicht.“
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.