Shloka 53
Jayadratha Approaches Draupadī in the Forest
Hospitality, Persuasion, and Reproach
यदृच्छया मोक्षितो5सि तत्र का परिदेवना | राजन! यदि तुम्हारे राज्यमें निवास करनेवाले पाण्डवोंने इसी नीतिके अनुसार दैववश तुम्हें शत्रुओंके हाथसे छुड़ा दिया है, तो इसमें खेद करनेकी क्या बात है?
yadṛcchayā mokṣito 'si tatra kā paridevanā | rājan! yadi tava rājyena nivāsaṃ kurvantaḥ pāṇḍavāḥ asyā nīteḥ anusāreṇa daivavaśāt tvāṃ śatrūṇāṃ hastāt mocitavantaḥ, tarhi atra khedaṃ kartum kim?
Dijo Karna: «Si has sido puesto en libertad por mero azar, ¿qué hay que lamentar? Oh Rey, si los Pāṇḍavas—que habitan en tu reino—conforme a esta norma y por el giro del destino te han librado de las manos de tus enemigos, ¿qué motivo hay para el pesar?»
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Karna frames an unexpected rescue as something that should not be mourned: whether it happened ‘by chance’ or ‘by fate’ and in line with prudent policy (nīti), deliverance from enemies is a benefit, not a humiliation. The emphasis is on accepting favorable outcomes without self-defeating regret.
Karna addresses a king who has been freed from enemy control. He argues that if the Pāṇḍavas—living within that king’s realm—have, by destiny and consistent with political-ethical conduct, secured the king’s release, then the king has no reason to lament the manner of his liberation.