Shloka 61
कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira
यः कार्येभ्यो व्रतं कृत्वा तस्य नानोपपादयेत् । न तत्कलमवाप्रोति एवमाहुर्मनीषिण:
yaḥ kāryebhyo vrataṃ kṛtvā tasya nānopapādayet | na tat kalam avāpnoti evam āhur manīṣiṇaḥ ||
Vāyu sagte: „Wer ein Gelübde ablegt, um bestimmte Pflichten zu erfüllen, es dann aber nicht in rechter Weise zu Ende führt, erlangt nicht die beabsichtigte Frucht. So haben es die Weisen verkündet.“
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
A vow is meaningful only when it is properly fulfilled; merely taking a vow for some purpose, without carrying it through with due correctness and completion, does not yield the intended fruit.
Vāyudeva is speaking as an authority figure, offering a general ethical maxim: disciplined commitments (vrata) must be executed properly to produce results—an instruction relevant to the characters’ choices and responsibilities in the war context.