Shloka 19
Dharma-śaṅkā-nivāraṇa: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Response on Karma-Phala and Trust in Dharma
स्वभावतः: प्रवृत्तो यः प्राप्रोत्यर्थ न कारणात् । तत् स्वभावात्मकं विद्धि फलं पुरुषसत्तम,नरश्रेष्ठ)ी जो स्वभावसे ही कर्ममें प्रवृत्त होकर धन प्राप्त करता है, किसी कारणवश नहीं, उसके उस धनको स्वाभाविक फल समझना चाहिये
svabhāvataḥ pravṛtto yaḥ prāpnoty arthaṁ na kāraṇāt | tat svabhāvātmakaṁ viddhi phalaṁ puruṣasattama ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “That person who, moved simply by his own nature, engages in work and thereby obtains wealth—not due to some external inducement or special cause—know that gain, O best of men, to be a ‘natural’ result, arising from one’s inherent disposition.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes outcomes that arise naturally from a person’s inherent disposition (svabhāva) from outcomes produced by some special external cause. Wealth gained through work one is naturally inclined to do is to be understood as a ‘natural fruit’ of that disposition.
Yudhiṣṭhira is articulating a principle about how to interpret the results of action—especially the acquisition of wealth—by linking it to svabhāva (one’s innate tendencies), framing the ethical understanding of ‘fruit’ (phala) in terms of inner disposition rather than external prompting.