Shloka 26
नैतदस्मत्कृतं शक्र नैतच्छक्र कृतं त्वया । यत् त्वमेवंगतो वज़्िन् यद्धाप्येवंगता वयम्
naitad asmatkṛtaṃ śakra naitac chakra kṛtaṃ tvayā | yat tvam evaṃgato vajrin yad dhāpy evaṃgatā vayam ||
Bhīṣma bersabda: “Wahai Śakra, hal ini bukan perbuatan kami, dan bukan pula perbuatanmu. Wahai Vajrin, bahawa engkau mencapai kemegahan kerajaan, dan bahawa kami jatuh ke dalam keadaan yang hina dan sengsara—semuanya bukanlah hasil buatan peribadi engkau atau kami.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma emphasizes that worldly rise and fall—royal prosperity or miserable decline—should not be attributed solely to personal credit or blame. The verse points to forces beyond individual ego (karma, time, destiny), encouraging humility in success and steadiness in adversity.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhīṣma addresses Indra (Śakra/Vajrin) and comments on contrasting conditions: Indra’s exalted splendor versus the speaker’s (and his side’s) fallen state. He frames both conditions as not merely self-caused, preparing the ground for ethical reflection on causality, responsibility, and equanimity.