Shloka 89
अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम् । विविधा च तथा चेष्टा दैवं चैवात्र पजचमम्
adhiṣṭhānaṃ tathā kartā karaṇaṃ ca pṛthagvidham | vividhā ca tathā ceṣṭā daivaṃ caivātra pañcamam ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “In this matter, there are five factors: the basis (the embodied seat where action occurs), the agent (the doer), the various instruments (means of action), the many kinds of activity (effort and motion), and, as the fifth, destiny/providence. Thus action is to be understood as arising from a conjunction of these causes, not from a single source alone.”
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Action should be understood as produced by multiple causes—locus, agent, instruments, effort, and destiny—so ethical judgment should avoid simplistic blame or pride that attributes everything to the self alone.
Vaiśaṃpāyana is explaining a doctrinal point in the Śānti Parva: a structured analysis of how actions arise, emphasizing both human responsibility (effort, instruments, agency) and the limiting role of daiva (providence).