Shloka 21
Dharma-śaṅkā-nivāraṇa: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Response on Karma-Phala and Trust in Dharma
धातापि हि स्वकर्मव तैस्तैहेंतुभिरी श्वर: । विदधाति विभज्येह फल पूर्वकृतं नृणाम्,जगदाधार परमेश्वर भी उपर्युक्त हठ आदि हेतुओंसे जीवोंके अपने-अपने कर्मको ही विभक्त करके मनुष्योंको उनके पूर्वजन्ममें किये हुए कर्मके फलरूपसे यहाँ प्राप्त कराता है
Dhātāpi hi svakarmabhiḥ tais tair hetubhir īśvaraḥ | vidadhāti vibhajyeha phalaṃ pūrvakṛtaṃ nṛṇām ||
Disse Yudhiṣṭhira: “Até mesmo o Criador—Deus, o Senhor—por meio dessas diversas causas, reparte os atos próprios de cada pessoa e, neste mundo, dispensa aos seres humanos os resultados de ações praticadas em tempo anterior. Assim, o que alguém experimenta não é acaso, mas a frutificação eticamente ordenada do próprio karma sob o governo do Supremo.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that experiences in this life arise as the fruits of one’s own past actions, distributed in an orderly way by the Lord; moral causality (karma) operates under divine governance rather than mere chance.
Yudhiṣṭhira is reflecting on why people receive differing outcomes—happiness, suffering, success, failure—and explains it through the framework of karma: the Creator apportions results according to each person’s prior deeds.