Shloka 16
Dharma-śaṅkā-nivāraṇa: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Response on Karma-Phala and Trust in Dharma
अकस्मादिह य: कश्रिदर्थ प्राप्नोति पूरुष: । त॑ हठेनेति मन्यन्ते स हि यत्नो न कस्यचित्,जो कोई पुरुष इस जगतमें अकस्मात् कहींसे धन पा लेता है, उसे लोग हठसे मिला हुआ मान लेते हैं; क्योंकि उसके लिये किसीके द्वारा प्रयत्न किया हुआ नहीं दीखता
akasmād iha yaḥ kaścid arthaṁ prāpnoti pūruṣaḥ | taṁ haṭheneti manyante sa hi yatno na kasyacit ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “If some man in this world suddenly comes into wealth from nowhere, people insist on calling it ‘won by sheer force’—for no one’s deliberate effort is seen to have brought it about.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how people misattribute sudden, untraceable gains: when no visible human effort can be credited, society labels the result as ‘force’ or an arbitrary happening, raising the ethical question of how we judge merit, agency, and causality.
Yudhiṣṭhira is speaking reflectively about how outcomes—especially unexpected wealth—are interpreted by observers, setting up a broader discussion on the relation between human effort (yatna) and unseen factors in life.