Shloka 11

अर्जुनोक्तिः—कृष्णं प्रति पुरुषकार‑कर्म‑विचारः

Arjuna’s Address to Krishna: Agency, Action, and Immediate Counsel

Devanagari script

लोकस्य नान्यतो वृत्ति: पाण्डवान्यत्र कर्मण: । एवंबुद्धि: प्रवर्तेत फलं स्यादुभयान्वये,पाण्डुनन्दन! पुरुषार्थको छोड़कर दूसरे किसी साधनसे--केवल दैवसे मनुष्यका जीवन-निर्वाह नहीं हो सकता। ऐसा विचारकर उसे कर्ममें प्रवृत्त होना चाहिये। फिर प्रारब्ध और पुरुषार्थ दोनोंके सम्बन्धसे फलकी प्राप्ति होगी

Transliteration

lokasya nānyato vṛttiḥ pāṇḍavānyatra karmaṇaḥ | evaṃbuddhiḥ pravarteta phalaṃ syād ubhayānvaye, pāṇḍunandana |

Translation

毗摩塞那说道：“对世人而言，除了行动（业）之外，并无别的生计与进取之道——对般度五子尤为如此。明白这一点，就当立心于勤勉而行之。如此，果报便由两种因素的会合而得：既定的命运（已然发动之势）与人的努力，般度之子啊。”

Word by Word

[{'term''lokasya', 'gloss': 'of the world

of people in general (gen. sg.)'}, {'term''na anyataḥ', 'gloss': 'not from elsewhere

not by any other means'}, {'term''vṛttiḥ', 'gloss': 'sustenance, livelihood

practical course of life'}, {'term''pāṇḍavān', 'gloss': 'the Pāṇḍavas (acc. pl.)'}, {'term': 'anyatra', 'gloss': 'except

other than'}, {'term''karmaṇaḥ', 'gloss': 'than action/effort

from karma (abl. sg.)'}, {'term''evaṃ-buddhiḥ', 'gloss': 'such an understanding

this conviction'}, {'term''pravarteta', 'gloss': 'should proceed/engage

should be set in motion (optative)'}, {'term''phalam', 'gloss': 'fruit, result, outcome'}, {'term': 'syāt', 'gloss': 'would be

comes to be'}, {'term''ubhayānvaye', 'gloss': 'in the connection/combination of both (destiny and effort)'}, {'term': 'pāṇḍu-nandana', 'gloss': 'O son of Pāṇḍu (address to a Pāṇḍava)'}]

Speaker

भीमसेन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīmasena

Pāṇḍavas

Pāṇḍu

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Human life cannot be sustained by fate alone; one must act with deliberate effort. Results arise from the combined operation of destiny (prārabdha) and personal endeavor (puruṣārtha), so ethical responsibility requires active engagement rather than fatalism.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war deliberations, Bhīma urges a Pāṇḍava addressee to reject passivity and commit to decisive action. His counsel frames the coming conflict as requiring purposeful effort while acknowledging that outcomes also depend on what has already been set in motion by prior causes.