Shloka 68
अध्याय १ — न्यग्रोधवनोपवेशनम् तथा द्रौणिनिश्चयः
Night at the Banyan and Drauṇi’s Resolve
एवमेतेन भाव्यं॑ हि नूनं कार्येण तत्त्वतः । यथा हास्येदृशी निष्ठा कृतकार्येडपि दुष्करे
evam etena bhāvyaṃ hi nūnaṃ kāryeṇa tattvataḥ | yathā hāsye dṛśī niṣṭhā kṛtakārye 'pi duṣkare ||
Sañjaya said: “Surely, in truth, this was destined to happen as the real outcome of this undertaking. For even though a most difficult deed has been accomplished, the final result has manifested in just this manner—such was the fixed course of events.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even extraordinary effort and success in a difficult undertaking do not guarantee a desired moral or practical outcome; events unfold according to a deeper chain of causes—often framed as destiny shaped by prior karma—so one must reflect on the ethical weight and consequences of actions, not merely their execution.
Sanjaya comments on the grim turn of events at the end of the war: despite the completion of a very difficult enterprise, the final fruit has appeared in an unexpected or tragic form, implying that the outcome was, in essence, inevitable.