Shloka 37
Dharma-śaṅkā-nivāraṇa: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Response on Karma-Phala and Trust in Dharma
य॑ यमर्थमभिप्रेप्सु: कुरुते कर्म पूरुष: । तत्तत् सफलमेव स्याद् यदि न स्यात् पुरा कृतम्,यदि पूर्वकृत प्रारब्धकर्म प्रभाव डालनेवाला न होता तो मनुष्य जिस-जिस प्रयोजनके अभिप्रायसे कर्म करता, वह सब सफल ही हो जाता
yaṃ yam artham abhiprepsuḥ kurute karma pūruṣaḥ | tat tat saphalam eva syād yadi na syāt purā kṛtam ||
Seandainya daya karma masa lampau (prārabdha) tidak lebih dahulu ada, maka apa pun tujuan yang dikejar manusia dan demi itu ia bertindak, tiap usaha pasti berbuah. Namun karena pengaruh perbuatan terdahulu tetap bekerja, ikhtiar manusia tidak selalu mencapai hasil yang diinginkan.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between human effort and the determining power of prior deeds: if past karma did not condition outcomes, every intended action would succeed; since past actions bear fruit, results may diverge from one’s plans.
Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on why people do not always obtain the results they strive for, attributing the mismatch between intention and outcome to the influence of previously performed deeds.