Shloka 20

Dyūta-kathā-praśnaḥ — Inquiry into the Dice-Game Calamity

Devanagari script

कथं तु दैवं शक्येत पौरुषेण प्रबाधितुम्‌ । अवश्यमेव भविता यदुक्तं परमर्षिणा

Transliteration

kathaṁ tu daivaṁ śakyeta pauruṣeṇa prabādhitum | avaśyam eva bhavitā yad uktaṁ paramarṣiṇā ||

Translation

ໄວສຳປາຍະນະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ຊະຕາກຳຈະຖືກຂັດຂວາງ ຫຼືຖືກຊະນະໄດ້ແທ້ໆດ້ວຍຄວາມພາກພຽນຂອງມະນຸດຢ່າງໃດ? ສິ່ງໃດທີ່ລະສີສູງສຸດໄດ້ກ່າວ ຈະເກີດຂຶ້ນແນ່ນອນ»។

Word by Word

• {'katham': 'how?', 'tu': 'but/indeed (emphatic particle)', 'daivam': 'fate

• the dispensation of the divine', 'śakyeta': 'could be possible

• could be done (potential/passive sense)', 'pauruṣeṇa': 'by human effort

• by manly exertion (puruṣārtha)', 'prabādhitum': 'to obstruct, overpower, thwart, subdue', 'avaśyam': 'inevitably

• of necessity', 'eva': 'indeed

• emphatic particle', 'bhavitā': 'will be

• is bound to happen (future of √bhū)', 'yat': 'whatever that which', 'uktam': 'spoken

• said', 'paramarṣiṇā': 'by the supreme seer (instrumental singular)'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Vyāsa
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Paramarṣi (the supreme seer, i.e., Vyāsa in context)
• Daiva (destiny)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the tension between daiva (destiny) and pauruṣa (human effort): certain outcomes, especially those pronounced by a realized seer, are presented as inevitable. Ethically, it frames Yudhiṣṭhira’s struggle to reconcile responsibility and action with the sense of an overriding cosmic order.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Vyāsa leaves, Yudhiṣṭhira remains distressed and repeatedly reflects on the seer’s words. Vaiśampāyana narrates this moment of anxious contemplation, where Yudhiṣṭhira feels that what has been foretold cannot be averted by personal exertion.