Shloka 50
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization
नात्मच्छन्देन भूतानां जीवितं मरणं तथा । नाप्यकाले सुखं प्राप्यं दु:खं वापि यदूत्तम
nātmachandena bhūtānāṃ jīvitaṃ maraṇaṃ tathā | nāpyakāle sukhaṃ prāpyaṃ duḥkhaṃ vāpi yadūttama ||
Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Hidup dan mati makhluk tidak terjadi menurut kehendak pribadi; demikian pula kemenangan dan kekalahan tidak sepenuhnya berada dalam kuasa kita. Wahai yang terbaik di antara Yadu, tiada seorang pun memperoleh bahagia atau duka sebelum waktunya; semuanya datang hanya ketika kala telah masak.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Human beings cannot command life and death—or even success and failure—purely by personal desire. Happiness and sorrow arise according to kāla (the ripening of time and conditions), encouraging humility, patience, and steadiness in dharma rather than anxiety over outcomes.
In Udyoga Parva, as war approaches and counsel is exchanged, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Kṛṣṇa (called “Yadūttama”), reflecting on the limits of human control and the inevitability of time-governed results—framing an ethical stance of endurance and right action amid impending conflict.