Shloka 44
दैव–पुरुषकार-प्रश्नः
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Inquiry: Fate and Human Effort
यथा तैलक्षयाद् दीप: प्रह्यासमुपगच्छति । तथा कर्मक्षयाद् दैवं प्रहासमुपगच्छति,जैसे तेल समाप्त हो जानेसे दीपक बुझ जाता है, उसी प्रकार कर्मके क्षीण हो जानेपर दैव भी नष्ट हो जाता है
yathā tailakṣayād dīpaḥ prahāsam upagacchati | tathā karmakṣayād daivaṃ prahāsam upagacchati ||
Bhishma disse: “Assim como uma lâmpada, quando o seu óleo se esgota, se apaga, do mesmo modo, quando o karma acumulado se consome, até aquilo que as pessoas chamam de ‘destino’ perde a sua força e chega ao fim.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
So-called ‘fate’ (daiva) is not an independent, permanent power; it operates as long as the stored momentum of past actions (karma) remains. When that karmic stock is exhausted, the effects attributed to destiny also cease—like a lamp that cannot burn without oil.
In Bhishma’s instruction within the Anushasana Parva, he uses a simple household image—the lamp and its oil—to clarify a moral-philosophical point: outcomes arise from causes (karma), and ‘daiva’ is best understood as the ripening of those causes rather than an arbitrary force.