Shloka 4

Nakula’s Adaptive Counsel to Kṛṣṇa in the Kuru Assembly (उद्योगपर्व, अध्याय ७८)

Devanagari script

तत्र चापि ध्रुवं पश्येच्छोषणं दैवकारितम्‌ । जिस खेतमें जुताई और सिंचाई की गयी है, वहाँ यह पुरुषार्थ ही किया गया है; परंतु वहाँ भी दैववश सूखा पड़ गया, यह निश्चितरूपसे देखा जाता है। [अतः पुरुषार्थकी सफलताके लिये प्रारब्धकी अनुकूलता आवश्यक है] ।। तदिदं निश्चितं बुद्धया पूर्वरपि महात्मभि:

Transliteration

tatra cāpi dhruvaṁ paśyec choṣaṇaṁ daivakāritam | tad idaṁ niścitaṁ buddhyā pūrvar api mahātmabhiḥ ||

Translation

అక్కడ కూడా దైవకృతమైన కరువు నిశ్చయంగా కనిపిస్తుంది. దున్ని నీరు పెట్టిన పొలంలో పురుషప్రయత్నం పూర్తిగా జరిగినా, విధివశాత్తు ఎండదనం కలగవచ్చు. అందువల్ల ప్రయత్నం ఫలించుటకు ప్రారబ్ధానుకూలత కూడా అవసరం—ఇది పూర్వ మహాత్ములు దృఢబుద్ధితో నిర్ణయించారు.

Word by Word

{'tatra''there

in that case', 'ca api''and even

even also', 'dhruvam''certainly

surely', 'paśyet''one would see

one can observe', 'śoṣaṇam''drying up

desiccation', 'daiva-kāritam''caused by fate/divine dispensation', 'tat idam': 'this very (point)', 'niścitam': 'ascertained

firmly determined', 'buddhyā''by understanding

with discernment', 'pūrvaiḥ api''even by the ancients

by those of earlier times', 'mahātmabhiḥ''by great-souled persons

Speaker

अर्जुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

daiva (fate/divine dispensation)

kṣetra (field) (implied by the agricultural illustration)

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that while human effort (puruṣārtha) is necessary—like ploughing and irrigating a field—results are not guaranteed, because fate or prior karmic allotment (daiva/prārabdha) can still obstruct success. Hence, fruition depends on both effort and favorable destiny.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna is articulating a reflective point about causality and outcomes: even when one does everything correctly, adverse destiny can negate results. He supports this with an agricultural analogy to argue that wise people have long recognized the joint role of effort and fate.