Shloka 12
अध्याय १७८ — प्राणवायुगतिः तथा शारीराग्निव्यवस्था
Adhyāya 178 — The courses of prāṇa-vāyu and the regulation of the bodily fire
मणी वोष्टस्य लम्बेते प्रियौ वत्सतरो मम । शुद्ध हि दैवमेवेदं हठेनैवास्ति पौरुषम्
maṇī voṣṭasya lambe te priyau vatsatarau mama | śuddhaṃ hi daivam evedaṃ haṭhenaivāsti pauruṣam ||
Bhishma said: “My two dear calves hang from this camel’s neck like a pair of jewels. This is nothing but the working of fate alone. What can human effort accomplish when it is merely stubborn striving?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the tension between daiva (fate) and pauruṣa (human effort), suggesting that outcomes may be governed by providential circumstance, and that mere stubborn exertion without alignment to conditions and dharma may be ineffective.
A vivid image is used: two calves are carried along, hanging from a camel’s neck like jewels, being taken over rough paths. The speaker interprets this unlikely, accidental-seeming situation as an instance of fate (often framed as kākātālīya—an unexpected coincidence), to illustrate the limits of human control.