Shloka 9
योडयमिच्छेद् यथाकामं कामानां तदवाप्रुयात् यदि स्यान्न पराधीनं पुरुषस्य क्रियाफलम्,यदि जीवके किये हुए कर्मोंका फल पराधीन न होता तो जो जिस वस्तुकी इच्छा करता, वह अपनी उसी कामनाको रुचिके अनुसार प्राप्त कर लेता
yo ’yam icched yathākāmaṃ kāmānāṃ tad avāpnuyāt | yadi syān na parādhīnaṃ puruṣasya kriyāphalam ||
Nārada said: If the fruit of a person’s actions were not dependent on factors beyond his control, then whoever desired any object would obtain that very object exactly as he wished.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Desire alone cannot guarantee attainment, because the results of action (kriyā-phala) are not fully under one’s control. Therefore one should act rightly within dharma, reduce craving, and accept outcomes with steadiness.
In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Nārada explains a principle about human limitation: if results were entirely self-controlled, everyone would instantly obtain whatever they wished; since that is not so, one must understand the dependence of outcomes on many conditions.