Shloka 26
Draupadī’s Rebuke of Jayadratha and Dhaumya’s Admonition (Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 252)
कर्मसिद्धौ तदा तत्र जूम्भमाणा महाद्धुता । कृत्या समुत्थिता राजन् कि करोमीति चाब्रवीत्
karmasiddhau tadā tatra jṛmbhamāṇā mahādbhūtā | kṛtyā samutthitā rājan kiṃ karomīti cābravīt ||
ข้าแต่พระราชา! ครั้นพิธีกรรมบรรลุผลสำเร็จ ณ ที่นั้นเอง จากหลุมยัญก็ปรากฏ “กฤตยา” อันน่าอัศจรรย์ยิ่ง โผล่ขึ้นมาพร้อมอ้าปากหาว แล้วทูลถามพระราชาว่า “ข้าพเจ้าพึงทำสิ่งใด?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power generated through ritual or intention is ethically neutral until directed; therefore the moral burden lies on the agent who initiates it. The kṛtyā’s question highlights accountability: once a harmful force is successfully produced, one must choose whether to restrain it or deploy it, and that choice bears karmic and dharmic consequences.
At the completion of a sacrificial/ritual act, a supernatural being called a kṛtyā manifests from the sacrificial setting, appearing in an uncanny, awe-inspiring manner. She addresses the king and asks for instructions—signaling that the rite has succeeded and the created force now awaits its assigned task.