Shloka 24
Book 3, Āraṇyaka-parva — Adhyāya 19: Pradyumna’s Reproach of Withdrawal and the Ethics of Kṣātra Reputation
मृत्युरस्य महाबाहो रणे देवकिनन्दन: । कृष्ण: संकल्पितो धात्रा तन्मिथ्या न भवेदिति,“महाबाहो! विधाताने युद्धमें देवकीनन्दन भगवान् श्रीकृष्णके हाथसे ही इसकी मृत्यु निश्चित की है। उनका वह संकल्प मिथ्या नहीं होना चाहिये”
mṛtyur asya mahābāho raṇe devakīnandanaḥ | kṛṣṇaḥ saṅkalpito dhātrā tan mithyā na bhaved iti ||
Wika ni Vāyu: “O makapangyarihang bisig, itinakda na ng Tagapag-ayos ng kapalaran na ang kamatayan ng taong ito sa digmaan ay darating sa kamay ni Kṛṣṇa, anak ni Devakī. Kaya’t ang banal na pasyang iyon ay hindi dapat mapawalang-bisa.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the supremacy of divine ordinance (dhātṛ-saṅkalpa): events in war, including death, unfold according to a higher determination, and human action is framed as aligning with that cosmic resolve rather than overturning it.
Vāyu declares to a heroic interlocutor (“mahābāho”) that the person under discussion is fated to die in battle specifically by Kṛṣṇa’s hand, and insists that the Creator’s predetermined resolve should not be rendered ineffective.