Shloka 12
राजधर्मः, दण्डनीतिः, कर्तृत्व-विचारः च
Royal Duty, Lawful Discipline, and the Question of Agency
व्यास उवाच ईश्वरो वा भवेत् कर्ता पुरुषो वापि भारत । हठो वा वर्तते लोके कर्मजं वा फलं स्मृतम्
vyāsa uvāca | īśvaro vā bhavet kartā puruṣo vāpi bhārata | haṭho vā vartate loke karmajāṃ vā phalaṃ smṛtam ||
Vyāsa said: “O Bhārata, in this world the agency behind an act may be understood in four ways: either the Lord is the doer, or the human person is the doer; or else it is one’s obstinate impulse that operates; or the outcome is remembered as arising from one’s own karma. Thus, when people are slain, the question of responsibility can be weighed among divine governance, human choice, reckless insistence, and the ripening of past deeds.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vyāsa frames moral causality as a fourfold inquiry: divine governance (īśvara), human agency (puruṣa), impulsive obstinacy (haṭha), and karmic fruition (karmajā phala). The verse invites careful ethical analysis rather than a single, simplistic attribution of blame.
In Śānti Parva’s reflective discourse after the war, Vyāsa addresses a Bharata prince and sets up possible explanations for responsibility in acts like killing—preparing the ground for a deeper discussion on dharma, culpability, and the workings of karma.