Shloka 15

राजधर्मप्रश्नः — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry into Rājadharma (Śānti-parva 56)

Devanagari script

साधारण द्वयं होतद्‌ दैवमुत्थानमेव च । पौरुषं हि परं मन्ये देवं निश्चितमुच्यते

Transliteration

sādhāraṇaṃ dvayaṃ hy etad daivam utthānam eva ca | pauruṣaṃ hi paraṃ manye daivaṃ niścitam ucyate ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“凡事之成就，世人通常承认有二因：命运与人力。然而我以人之努力为更高之理；因为所谓‘命运’，被说成早已预先注定。”

Word by Word

• {'sādhāraṇam': 'common, generally accepted', 'dvayam': 'a pair, twofold', 'etad': 'this', 'daivam': 'destiny

• that which arises from the divine/previously ordained', 'utthānam': 'rising up

• personal effort', 'eva': 'indeed, precisely', 'ca': 'and', 'pauruṣam': 'human effort

• self-initiative', 'hi': 'indeed, for', 'param': 'higher, supreme, primary', 'manye': 'I think, I consider', 'niścitam': 'fixed, determined, settled', 'ucyate': 'is said, is called'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Though destiny and effort are both cited as causes of success, Bhishma prioritizes personal effort as ethically and practically primary, while destiny is treated as already determined.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on righteous living and governance, Bhishma teaches Yudhishthira by reflecting on causality in human action—how much depends on fate versus one’s own exertion.