वैशंपायन उवाच
एवम् उक्त्वा विदुरं धर्मराजः; प्रायात्रिकं सर्वम् आज्ञाप्य तूर्णम् ॥
प्रायाच् छ्वोभूते सगणः सानुयात्रः; सह स्त्रीभिर् द्रौपदीम् आदिकृत्वा ॥
दैवं प्रज्ञां तु मुष्णाति तेजश् चक्षुर् इवापतत् ॥
धातुश् च वशम् अन्वेति पाशैर् इव नरः सितः ॥
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca
evam uktvā viduraṃ dharmarājaḥ; prāyātrikaṃ sarvam ājñāpya tūrṇam ||
prāyāc chvobhūte sagaṇaḥ sānuyātraḥ; saha strībhir draupadīm ādikṛtvā ||
daivaṃ prajñāṃ tu muṣṇāti tejaś cakṣur ivāpatat ||
dhātuś ca vaśam anveti pāśair iva naraḥ sitaḥ ||
Having thus spoken to Vidura, the Dharmaraja, swiftly ordering all preparations for the journey, set out the next day with his retinue and attendants, together with the women, placing Draupadi at the fore. For fate steals away discernment, as a sudden, blinding flash steals the sight; and man follows the will of the Creator, as if bound fast by snares.
dfbdee550147 · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:03:36 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here the narrator utters a famous truth: 'fate steals away discernment.' It is telling that even the wisest of men, when his hour comes, loses his usual clear-sightedness—as a seeing man is blinded by a sudden flash. But in the higher light, 'fate' (daiva) is not blind chance but the ordering of the Creator, guiding the world toward its needed outcome: the coming war, which will lighten the earth's burden, begins with this very game, and the very virtues of the heroes become threads in the hand of Providence. The verse teaches submission before the incomprehensible: a man 'bound fast by snares' of what is foreordained is not free to prevent everything. But these snares lie in the hand not of malevolent fate but of the Lord, and what appears to be ruin is the beginning of the world's purification.