Shloka 18
अक्षविजय-प्रसङ्गः
Escalation of Wagers and Shakuni’s Repeated Declarations of Victory
दैवं हि प्रज्ञां मुष्णाति चक्षुस्तेज इवापतत् । धातुश्च वशमन्वेति पाशैरिव नर: सितः,जैसे उत्कृष्ट तेज सामने आनेपर आँखकी ज्योतिको हर लेता है, उसी प्रकार दैव मनुष्यकी बुद्धिको हर लेता है। दैवसे ही प्रेरित होकर मनुष्य रस्सीमें बँधे हुएकी भाँति विधाताके वशमें घूमता रहता है
daivaṃ hi prajñāṃ muṣṇāti cakṣus-teja ivāpatat | dhātuś ca vaśam anveti pāśair iva naraḥ sitaḥ ||
まことに運命は人の分別を奪う。あたかも突如ほとばしる眩い光が、眼から見る力を奪い去るように。かの運命に駆られて人は、造化の主の支配のもとを、縄で固く縛られた者のごとく巡り動く—判断と行為の自由は抑え込まれ、その行路は強いられるのである。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
When overpowering destiny (daiva) takes hold, it can eclipse a person’s discernment (prajñā), making them act as though bound—drawn into the control of the cosmic Ordainer (dhātṛ). The verse highlights ethical caution: loss of clarity leads to compelled, harmful choices, so one should guard judgment and seek right counsel.
In the Sabha Parva’s court-setting tensions, the narrator Vaiśampāyana reflects on how people, under the pressure of fate, lose sound judgment and proceed as if constrained by unseen bonds—an interpretive frame for the unfolding decisions and missteps in the royal assembly.