Shloka 26
Draupadī’s Rebuke of Jayadratha and Dhaumya’s Admonition (Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 252)
कर्मसिद्धौ तदा तत्र जूम्भमाणा महाद्धुता । कृत्या समुत्थिता राजन् कि करोमीति चाब्रवीत्,राजन! कर्मकी सिद्धि होनेपर वहाँ यज्ञकुण्डसे उस समय एक अत्यन्त अदभुत कृत्या जँभाई लेती हुई प्रकट हुई और बोली--“मैं क्या करूँ?”
karmasiddhau tadā tatra jṛmbhamāṇā mahādbhūtā | kṛtyā samutthitā rājan kiṃ karomīti cābravīt ||
Vaiśampāyana said: When the rite had reached completion, there in that place an exceedingly wondrous kṛtyā arose, yawning as she emerged. Addressing the king, she spoke: “What am I to do?” The moment underscores the moral peril of ritual power—once invoked and perfected, it demands direction, and the responsibility for its use rests upon the one who commissioned it.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power generated through ritual or intention is ethically neutral until directed; therefore the moral burden lies on the agent who initiates it. The kṛtyā’s question highlights accountability: once a harmful force is successfully produced, one must choose whether to restrain it or deploy it, and that choice bears karmic and dharmic consequences.
At the completion of a sacrificial/ritual act, a supernatural being called a kṛtyā manifests from the sacrificial setting, appearing in an uncanny, awe-inspiring manner. She addresses the king and asks for instructions—signaling that the rite has succeeded and the created force now awaits its assigned task.