Shloka 1
Chapter 137: Yuyudhāna (Sātyaki) Slays Somadatta; Yudhiṣṭhira Redirected from Droṇa
अपन क्ाा बछ। अकाल पजञ्चत्रिशर्दाधिकशततमोब् ध्याय: धृतराष्ट्रका खेदपूर्वक भीमसेनके बलका वर्णन और अपने पुत्रोंकी निन्दा करना तथा भीमके द्वारा दुर्मरषण आदि धृतराष्ट्रके पाँच पुत्रोंका वध धृतराष्ट उवाच दैवमेव पर मन््ये धिक् पौरुषमनर्थकम् । यत्राधिरथिरायत्तों नातरत् पाण्डवं रणे,धृतराष्ट्रने कहा--संजय! मैं तो दैवको ही बड़ा मानता हूँ। पुरुषार्थ तो व्यर्थ है। उसे धिक्कार है; क्योंकि उसमें स्थित हुआ अधिरथपुत्र कर्ण सब प्रकारसे प्रयत्न करके भी रणक्षेत्रमें पाण्डुनन्दन भीमसे पार न पा सका
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | daivam eva paraṁ manye dhik pauruṣam anarthakam | yatrādhirathir āyatto nātarat pāṇḍavaṁ raṇe ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Sañjaya, I regard Fate alone as supreme; human effort is futile—shame on such purposeless prowess. For even Karṇa, the son of Adhiratha, though striving in every way on the battlefield, could not overcome the Pāṇḍava Bhīma.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse voices a fatalistic conclusion drawn from battlefield outcomes: when even great human prowess fails, Dhṛtarāṣṭra interprets events as governed primarily by daiva (fate). Ethically, it also reveals his grief-driven tendency to dismiss responsible agency and to read moral and strategic failure as inevitability.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing the war report, laments that Karṇa—despite determined effort—could not overcome Bhīma in battle. This becomes the opening note of his sorrow and self-reproach, setting up further condemnation of his sons and the grim news of their losses.