Shloka 19
दैव–पुरुषकार-प्रश्नः
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Inquiry: Fate and Human Effort
स्वं चेत् कर्मफलं न स्यात् सर्वमेवाफलं भवेत् । लोको दैवं समालक्ष्य उदासीनो भवेन्ननु
svaṁ cet karmaphalaṁ na syāt sarvam evāphalaṁ bhavet | loko daivaṁ samālakṣya udāsīno bhaven nanu ||
Dijo Bhishma: «Si las acciones de cada cual no dieran el fruto que les corresponde, toda acción se volvería estéril. Y al ver sólo al destino (daiva) como juez decisivo, los hombres se tornarían indiferentes y dejarían de esforzarse con propósito».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma argues that moral and practical life depends on the meaningfulness of action: if actions did not produce results, society would collapse into passivity, with people blaming fate and abandoning responsible effort. The verse supports the ethical necessity of karma-phala (action having consequences) and warns against fatalism.
In the Anushasana Parva’s instruction setting, Bhishma continues his didactic discourse on dharma. Here he makes a reasoning-based point: denying the efficacy of one’s own action would render all endeavors pointless and make people indifferent, since they would look only to destiny.