Shloka 30
घटोत्कच-कर्णयुद्धम्
Ghaṭotkaca–Karna Combat and the Release of Śakti
युध्यस्व यत्नमास्थाय दैवं कृत्वा निरर्थकम् । यततस्तव तेषां च दैवं मार्गेण यास्यति,फिर भी तुम दैवको व्यर्थ समझकर प्रयत्नपूर्वक युद्ध करो। तुम्हारे और पाण्डवोंके अपनी-अपनी विजयके लिये प्रयत्न करते रहनेपर दैव अपने गन्तव्य मार्गसे जाता रहेगा
yudhyasva yatnam āsthāya daivaṁ kṛtvā nirarthakam | yatatas tava teṣāṁ ca daivaṁ mārgeṇa yāsyati ||
Karna said: “Fight, taking firm hold of your own effort, and do not treat ‘fate’ as the decisive cause. As you and they (the Pāṇḍavas) each strive for your own victory, destiny will proceed along its own appointed course.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Karna urges reliance on disciplined personal effort rather than fatalism: one should act vigorously, while recognizing that outcomes unfold according to destiny’s larger course.
In the midst of the Drona Parva battle context, Karna exhorts his side to keep fighting with determined exertion, not surrendering to ‘fate’ as an excuse; both sides’ striving continues while destiny moves toward its destined end.