Shloka 24
Book 3, Āraṇyaka-parva — Adhyāya 19: Pradyumna’s Reproach of Withdrawal and the Ethics of Kṣātra Reputation
मृत्युरस्य महाबाहो रणे देवकिनन्दन: । कृष्ण: संकल्पितो धात्रा तन्मिथ्या न भवेदिति,“महाबाहो! विधाताने युद्धमें देवकीनन्दन भगवान् श्रीकृष्णके हाथसे ही इसकी मृत्यु निश्चित की है। उनका वह संकल्प मिथ्या नहीं होना चाहिये”
mṛtyur asya mahābāho raṇe devakīnandanaḥ | kṛṣṇaḥ saṅkalpito dhātrā tan mithyā na bhaved iti ||
Vāyu said: “O mighty-armed one, the Ordainer has already determined that this man’s death in battle shall come at the hands of Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī. Therefore that divine resolve must not be allowed to prove false.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the supremacy of divine ordinance (dhātṛ-saṅkalpa): events in war, including death, unfold according to a higher determination, and human action is framed as aligning with that cosmic resolve rather than overturning it.
Vāyu declares to a heroic interlocutor (“mahābāho”) that the person under discussion is fated to die in battle specifically by Kṛṣṇa’s hand, and insists that the Creator’s predetermined resolve should not be rendered ineffective.