Shloka 41
दैव–पुरुषकार-प्रश्नः
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Inquiry: Fate and Human Effort
तपोनियमसंयुक्ता मुनयः संशितव्रता: । कि ते दैवबलात् शापमुत्सृजन्ते न कर्मणा,तप और नियममें संयुक्त रहकर कठोर व्रतका पालन करनेवाले मुनि क्या दैवबलसे ही किसीको शाप देते हैं, पुरुषार्थके बलसे नहीं?
tapo-niyama-saṃyuktā munayaḥ saṃśita-vratāḥ | ki te daiva-balāt śāpam utsṛjante na karmaṇā ||
Bhīṣma said: “Those sages disciplined by austerity and self-restraint, who observe rigorous vows—do they release a curse upon someone only through the force of destiny, and not through deliberate human agency and effort?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse raises an ethical-philosophical question about moral responsibility: when powerful ascetics utter a curse, is it merely destiny acting through them, or is it a conscious act grounded in personal agency (karma) and thus accountable within dharma?
Bhīṣma, in his instructional discourse, reflects on the extraordinary potency of sages who practice tapas and niyama, and he questions the causal basis of their curses—whether such outcomes are driven by providence (daiva) or by intentional human action.