Shloka 9

Daiva–Puruṣakāra Saṃvāda

Kṛpa’s Counsel on Destiny and Human Effort

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत सौप्तिकपर्वमें अश्वत्थामाकी मन्त्रणाविषयक पहला अध्याय पूरा हुआ,ताभ्यां सर्वे हि कार्यार्था मनुष्याणां नरर्षभ | विचेष्टन्त: सम दृश्यन्ते निवृत्तास्तु तथैव च नरश्रेष्ठ! मनुष्योंके प्रवृत्ति और निवृत्ति-सम्बन्धी सारे कार्य दैव और पुरुषार्थ दोनोंसे ही सिद्ध होते देखे जाते हैं

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | tābhyāṃ sarve hi kāryārthā manuṣyāṇāṃ nararṣabha | viceṣṭantaḥ sama dṛśyante nivṛttās tu tathaiva ca | narāśreṣṭha! manuṣyōṃ ke pravṛtti aura nivṛtti-sambandhī sāre kārya daiva aura puruṣārtha donoṃ se hī siddha hote dekhe jāte haiṃ |

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Ô taureau parmi les hommes, toutes les entreprises humaines se voient accomplies par ces deux forces — le destin et l’effort personnel. Qu’on s’acharne dans l’action ou qu’on s’en retire, les issues paraissent également naître du travail conjoint du sort et de l’initiative humaine.

Word by Word

• {'tābhyām': 'by those two (i.e., by both factors)', 'sarve': 'all', 'kāryārthāḥ': 'purposes to be achieved

• intended tasks/ends', 'manuṣyāṇām': 'of human beings', 'nararṣabha': 'O bull among men (honorific address)', 'viceṣṭantaḥ': 'those who strive

• those engaged in effort', 'sama': 'equally

• in the same manner', 'dṛśyante': 'are seen

• are observed', 'nivṛttāḥ': 'those who have withdrawn

• those who desist from action', 'tathaiva': 'just so

• likewise', 'narāśreṣṭha': 'O best of men (honorific address)', 'pravṛtti': 'engagement in action

• active pursuit', 'nivṛtti': 'withdrawal

• cessation/renunciation of action', 'daiva': 'fate

• the divine dispensation', 'puruṣārtha': 'human effort

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a balanced view: human outcomes arise through the combined operation of daiva (destiny) and puruṣārtha (personal effort). It cautions against absolutizing either—neither pure fatalism nor pure self-reliance alone explains results.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya offers a reflective general principle to the listener (addressed as ‘best of men’), framing human action in terms of pravṛtti (active striving) and nivṛtti (withdrawal). This sets an ethical-philosophical tone within the Sauptika Parva’s grim aftermath of war.