Shloka 16

Devanagari script

अकस्मादिह य: कश्रिदर्थ प्राप्नोति पूरुष: । त॑ हठेनेति मन्यन्ते स हि यत्नो न कस्यचित्‌,जो कोई पुरुष इस जगतमें अकस्मात्‌ कहींसे धन पा लेता है, उसे लोग हठसे मिला हुआ मान लेते हैं; क्योंकि उसके लिये किसीके द्वारा प्रयत्न किया हुआ नहीं दीखता

Transliteration

akasmād iha yaḥ kaścid arthaṁ prāpnoti pūruṣaḥ | taṁ haṭheneti manyante sa hi yatno na kasyacit ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Bila seseorang di dunia ini tiba-tiba memperoleh harta entah dari mana, orang-orang bersikeras menyebutnya ‘didapat dengan paksaan belaka’; sebab tak tampak adanya upaya yang disengaja dari siapa pun untuk mewujudkannya.”

Word by Word

अकस्मात्suddenly, unexpectedly

इहhere, in this world

यःwho

कश्चित्some (one), any

अर्थम्wealth, money, gain

प्राप्नोतिobtains, attains

पूरुषःa man, person

तम्him/that (person)

हठेनby force; by sheer chance (idiomatically)

इतिthus (quotative)

मन्यन्तेthey think, consider

सःhe/that

हिindeed, for

यत्नःeffort, endeavor

नnot

कस्यचित्of anyone; by anyone's

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how people misattribute sudden, untraceable gains: when no visible human effort can be credited, society labels the result as ‘force’ or an arbitrary happening, raising the ethical question of how we judge merit, agency, and causality.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira is speaking reflectively about how outcomes—especially unexpected wealth—are interpreted by observers, setting up a broader discussion on the relation between human effort (yatna) and unseen factors in life.