Shloka 15

Devanagari script

भवितव्यं तथा तच्च यद्‌ वृत्तं भरतर्षभ । दिष्टं हि राजशार्दटूल न शक्‍्यमतिवर्तितुम्‌,“भरतश्रेष्ठ) जो कुछ हुआ है, वह उसी रूपमें होनेवाला था। राजसिंह! दैवके विधानका उल्लंघन नहीं किया जा सकता

Transliteration

bhavitavyaṃ tathā tac ca yad vṛttaṃ bharatarṣabha | diṣṭaṃ hi rājaśārdūla na śakyam ativartitum ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Wahai unggul dalam keturunan Bharata, apa yang telah berlaku memang ditakdirkan berlaku demikian. Wahai harimau di antara raja-raja, ketetapan takdir tidak dapat dilanggar.”

Word by Word

भवितव्यम्inevitable; what must be

तथाthus; in that manner

तत्that

चand

यत्which; whatever

वृत्तम्happened; occurred event

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

दिष्टम्destiny; what is ordained

हिindeed; for

राजशार्दूलO tiger among kings

नnot

शक्यम्possible

अतिवर्तितुम्to overstep; to transgress

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Bharatarṣabha (addressed person, ‘best of the Bharatas’)

Rājaśārdūla (addressed person, ‘tiger among kings’)

Diṣṭa (fate/destiny as a concept)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the inevitability of what is ordained (diṣṭa): events unfold according to destiny, and one cannot overstep the decree of fate. Ethically, it functions as a reflective or consolatory framing—inviting acceptance of what has occurred while situating human action within a larger cosmic order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana addresses a royal listener with honorific epithets, interpreting past events as inevitable. The statement serves to explain or contextualize suffering and outcomes by attributing them to what was destined to happen.