Shloka 30
Dharma-śaṅkā-nivāraṇa: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Response on Karma-Phala and Trust in Dharma
इष्टापूर्तफलं न स्यान्न शिष्यो न गुरुर्भवेत् । पुरुष: कर्मसाध्येषु स्याच्चेदयमकारणम्,यदि कर्मसाध्य फलोंमें पुरुष (एवं उसका प्रयत्न) कारण न होता अर्थात् वह कर्ता नहीं बनता तो किसीको यज्ञ और कूपनिर्माण आदि कर्मोंका फल नहीं मिलता। फिर तो न कोई किसीका शिष्य होता और न गुरु ही
iṣṭāpūrtaphalaṁ na syān na śiṣyo na gurur bhavet | puruṣaḥ karmasādhyeṣu syāc ced ayam akāraṇam ||
Yudhiṣṭhira dijo: «Si en las acciones cuyos frutos nacen del esfuerzo la persona (y su empeño) no fuera causa—si no llegara a ser agente—no habría fruto alguno de los sacrificios ni de las obras públicas, como cavar pozos. Entonces nadie sería discípulo de nadie, ni habría maestro.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse argues for human moral agency: when results are action-dependent, the person’s effort must be a real cause. Otherwise, merit from sacrifice and charity would be impossible, and even the social-ethical structure of learning (teacher and disciple) would collapse.
Yudhiṣṭhira is reasoning about causality and responsibility in dharma: he uses examples of ritual merit (iṣṭa) and public benefaction (pūrta) to show that denying human agency makes ethical practice and the guru–śiṣya relationship meaningless.