Shloka 21
कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira
न हि कार्यमकार्य वा सुखं ज्ञातुं कथंचन । श्रुतेन ज्ञायते सर्व तच्च त्वं नावबुध्यसे
na hi kāryam akāryaṃ vā sukhaṃ jñātuṃ kathaṃcana | śrutena jñāyate sarvaṃ tac ca tvaṃ nāvabudhyase ||
Kṛṣṇa bersabda: “Seseorang tidak dapat, dengan cara yang mudah, membezakan apa yang patut dilakukan dan apa yang tidak patut dilakukan. Semua ini diketahui melalui śruti—ajaran suci yang berwibawa—namun engkau tidak memahaminya.”
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral clarity about duty (kārya) and prohibition (akārya) is not gained casually or by convenience; it requires guidance from authoritative sacred teaching (śruti/śāstra). Kṛṣṇa rebukes the listener for lacking or ignoring that grounding.
In the Karṇa Parva battle context, Kṛṣṇa speaks as a moral instructor, pressing that decisions in war and conduct must be judged by dharma as taught in śāstra/śruti, not by impulse, self-interest, or superficial reasoning.