सा तु बुद्धिः कृताप्य् एवं जाग्रति त्रिदशेश्वरे ॥
अप्रमेये हृषीकेशे युद्धकाले व्यमुह्यत ॥
अर्जुनं चापि कौन्तेयं सदा रक्षति केशवः ॥
न ह्य् एनम् ऐच्छत् प्रमुखे सौतेः स्थापयितुं रणे ॥
अन्यांश् चास्मै रथोदारान् उपस्थापयद् अच्युतः ॥
अमोघां तां कथं शक्तिं मोघां कुर्याम् इति प्रभो ॥
ततः कृष्णं महाबाहुः सात्यकिः सत्यविक्रमः ॥
पप्रच्छ रथशार्दूल कर्णं प्रति महारथम् ॥
अयं च प्रत्ययः कर्णे शक्त्या चामितविक्रम ॥
किमर्थं सूतपुत्रेण न मुक्ता फल्गुने तु सा ॥
sā tu buddhiḥ kṛtāpy evaṃ jāgrati tridaśeśvare ||
aprameye hṛṣīkeśe yuddhakāle vyamuhyata ||
arjunaṃ cāpi kaunteyaṃ sadā rakṣati keśavaḥ ||
na hy enam aicchat pramukhe sauteḥ sthāpayituṃ raṇe ||
anyāṃś cāsmai rathodārān upasthāpayad acyutaḥ ||
amoghāṃ tāṃ kathaṃ śaktiṃ moghāṃ kuryām iti prabho ||
tataḥ kṛṣṇaṃ mahābāhuḥ sātyakiḥ satyavikramaḥ ||
papraccha rathaśārdūla karṇaṃ prati mahāratham ||
ayaṃ ca pratyayaḥ karṇe śaktyā cāmitavikrama ||
kimarthaṃ sūtaputreṇa na muktā phalgune tu sā ||
And though that same design was thus formed, while the lord of the thirty gods, the immeasurable Hrishikesha, was watchful, it came to nothing in the hour of battle. Keshava always guards Arjuna, the son of Kunti; for he did not wish to set him in front of the son of the suta [Karna] in battle. And Achyuta kept setting forth other splendid warriors to him [Karna], thinking, "How may I make that unfailing dart vain," O lord. Then Krishna, the mighty-armed Satyaki, of true valor, asked, O tiger among warriors, about Karna, the great warrior: "This confidence in Karna with his dart, O boundlessly valorous one — for what reason was it not released by the son of the suta at Phalguna?"
b2d494ebc9c4 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:58:11 PM UTC
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All the schemes of the Kurus collapse "while Krishna is watchful": before the vigilant Lord human plots are in vain. It is telling that he does not merely shield Arjuna passively but actively puts others forward to exhaust the dart. The verse teaches that providence is not passive: it not only wards off disaster but actively steers events toward salvation; and while the higher will keeps watch, even the subtlest schemes of evil undo themselves at the decisive hour.