Shloka 16

राजधर्मः, दण्डनीतिः, कर्तृत्व-विचारः च

Royal Duty, Lawful Discipline, and the Question of Agency

Devanagari script

न चैतदिष्टं कौन्तेय यदन्येन कृतं फलम्‌ । प्राप्रुयादिति यस्माच्च ईश्वरे तन्निवेशय

Transliteration

na caitad iṣṭaṃ kaunteya yad anyena kṛtaṃ phalam | prāpnuyād iti yasmāc ca īśvare tan niveśaya ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: “O son of Kuntī, it is not held to be right that the fruit of an act done by one should be received by another. Therefore do not cast responsibility upon someone else; rather, place the whole agency and the fruits of all good and evil deeds in the Supreme Lord, the inner impeller of all.”

Word by Word

• {'na': 'not', 'ca': 'and', 'etat': 'this', 'iṣṭam': 'approved

• proper', 'kaunteya': 'O son of Kuntī (address to Yudhiṣṭhira/Arjuna depending on context)', 'yat': 'that which

• that', 'anyena': 'by another (person)', 'kṛtam': 'done

• performed', 'phalam': 'fruit

• result (of action)', 'prāpnuyāt': 'should obtain

• should receive', 'iti': 'thus', 'yasmāt': 'because

• since', 'īśvare': 'in/unto the Lord

• the Supreme Controller', 'tat': 'that', 'niveśaya': 'place

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• Kaunteya (son of Kuntī)
• Īśvara (the Lord)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

One should not transfer the consequences of an action to someone who did not perform it; moral responsibility belongs to the doer. At the same time, the verse advises a theistic orientation: entrust the sense of agency and the dispensation of results to Īśvara, the inner ruler, rather than blaming intermediaries or external instruments.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Vyāsa instructs the addressed Kaunteya on ethical reasoning about action and consequence. He rejects the idea that another person should bear the fruit of someone else’s deed and directs the listener toward seeing Īśvara as the ultimate overseer, thereby discouraging misattribution of blame and encouraging inner discipline.