Shloka 11

Devanagari script

लोकस्य नान्यतो वृत्ति: पाण्डवान्यत्र कर्मण: । एवंबुद्धि: प्रवर्तेत फलं स्यादुभयान्वये,पाण्डुनन्दन! पुरुषार्थको छोड़कर दूसरे किसी साधनसे--केवल दैवसे मनुष्यका जीवन-निर्वाह नहीं हो सकता। ऐसा विचारकर उसे कर्ममें प्रवृत्त होना चाहिये। फिर प्रारब्ध और पुरुषार्थ दोनोंके सम्बन्धसे फलकी प्राप्ति होगी

Transliteration

lokasya nānyato vṛttiḥ pāṇḍavānyatra karmaṇaḥ | evaṃbuddhiḥ pravarteta phalaṃ syād ubhayānvaye, pāṇḍunandana |

Translation

Bhīmasena said: “For people, there is no other means of livelihood and progress than action—especially for the Pāṇḍavas. Understanding this, one should set one’s mind to effort and act accordingly. Then the result is attained through the conjunction of both factors: destiny (what is already set in motion) and human endeavor, O son of Pāṇḍu.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'lokasya', 'gloss': 'of the world

• of people in general (gen. sg.)'}, {'term': 'na anyataḥ', 'gloss': 'not from elsewhere

• not by any other means'}, {'term': 'vṛttiḥ', 'gloss': 'sustenance, livelihood

• practical course of life'}, {'term': 'pāṇḍavān', 'gloss': 'the Pāṇḍavas (acc. pl.)'}, {'term': 'anyatra', 'gloss': 'except

• other than'}, {'term': 'karmaṇaḥ', 'gloss': 'than action/effort

• from karma (abl. sg.)'}, {'term': 'evaṃ-buddhiḥ', 'gloss': 'such an understanding

• this conviction'}, {'term': 'pravarteta', 'gloss': 'should proceed/engage

• should be set in motion (optative)'}, {'term': 'phalam', 'gloss': 'fruit, result, outcome'}, {'term': 'syāt', 'gloss': 'would be

• comes to be'}, {'term': 'ubhayānvaye', 'gloss': 'in the connection/combination of both (destiny and effort)'}, {'term': 'pāṇḍu-nandana', 'gloss': 'O son of Pāṇḍu (address to a Pāṇḍava)'}]

Speaker

भीमसेन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīmasena
• Pāṇḍavas
• Pāṇḍu

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Human life cannot be sustained by fate alone; one must act with deliberate effort. Results arise from the combined operation of destiny (prārabdha) and personal endeavor (puruṣārtha), so ethical responsibility requires active engagement rather than fatalism.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war deliberations, Bhīma urges a Pāṇḍava addressee to reject passivity and commit to decisive action. His counsel frames the coming conflict as requiring purposeful effort while acknowledging that outcomes also depend on what has already been set in motion by prior causes.