Shloka 19
Udyoga Parva, Adhyaya 31 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Instructions to Sañjaya
Peace Appeal and Five-Village Proposal
कुले जातो बलवान् यो यशस्वी बहुश्ुतः सुखजीवी यतात्मा । धर्माधर्मो ग्रथितौ यो बिभर्ति स हास्य दिष्टस्य वशादुपैति
sañjaya uvāca |
kule jāto balavān yo yaśasvī bahuśrutaḥ sukhajīvī yatātmā |
dharmādharmau grathitau yo bibharti sa hāsya diṣṭasya vaśādupaiti ||
Sañjaya said: One who is born in a noble lineage, strong, renowned, widely learned, living in comfort, and self-controlled—and who bears within himself the interwoven strands of dharma and adharma—such a person, by the force of destiny, attains the desired endowments and qualities.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when a person possesses ideal social and personal virtues—noble birth, strength, fame, learning, comfort, and self-restraint—human conduct still contains a complex mixture of dharma and adharma; nevertheless, outcomes often depend on diṣṭa (destiny), which can grant or withhold the wished-for attainments.
Sañjaya offers a reflective observation about character and fortune in the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war deliberations, emphasizing how destiny influences the acquisition of desired qualities and prosperity, even in those who appear exemplary yet carry mixed moral impulses.