Shloka 5
जो राजा युधिष्छिर दीर्घकालतक जटा और मृगचर्म धारण करके वनमें रहे और कुछ कालतक लोगोंसे अज्ञात रहकर भी विचरे हैं, वे ही आज रणभूमिमें विशाल सेना जुटाकर चढ़ आये हैं, इसमें मेरे तथा पुत्रोंके दैवयोगके सिवा दूसरा क्या कारण हो सकता है? ।। युक्त एव हि भाग्येन ध्रुवमुत्पद्यते नर: । स तथा<55कृष्यते तेन न यथा स्वयमिच्छति,निश्चय ही मनुष्य भाग्यसे युक्त होकर ही जन्म ग्रहण करता है। भाग्य उसे उस अवस्थामें भी खींच ले जाता है, जिसमें वह स्वयं नहीं जाना चाहता
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | yo rājā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ dīrghakālaṃ jaṭā-mṛgacarma-dhāraṇaṃ kṛtvā vane 'vasat, kiṃcit kālaṃ ca lokebhyo 'jñātaḥ san vicacāra, sa eva adya raṇabhūmau viśālāṃ senāṃ saṃnidhāya abhyāgataḥ | atra mama putrāṇāṃ ca daivayogād anyat kāraṇaṃ kiṃ syāt || yukta eva hi bhāgyena dhruvam utpadyate naraḥ | sa tathā kṛṣyate tena na yathā svayam icchati ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “That very king Yudhiṣṭhira—who for a long time lived in the forest wearing matted hair and a deer-skin, and who even wandered for some time unknown to people—has now come to the battlefield after mustering a vast army. What other cause can there be for this, for me and for my sons, except the working of fate? For a man is surely born bound to destiny; and by that destiny he is dragged into a condition he himself would not choose.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dhṛtarāṣṭra frames events through the lens of bhāgya/daiva (destiny): humans are born under the force of fate and are often carried into outcomes they do not personally desire. Ethically, the verse highlights a tension—explaining suffering by destiny can become a way to evade responsibility for one’s own choices.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra reflects with astonishment that Yudhiṣṭhira, once an exiled forest-dweller in ascetic garb and even living incognito, now stands on the battlefield with a great army. He interprets this reversal and the looming crisis for himself and his sons as the inevitable working of fate.