The epic treats fate (daiva/karma) and free will (puruṣakāra/puruṣārtha) as inseparably intertwined rather than as opposing absolutes. Destiny, shaped by past actions, establishes the broad framework of circumstances: prophecies foretell the Kurukṣetra war, the destruction of the Kauravas, and the death of key warriors such as Karṇa, and these predictions come to pass despite attempts to avert them. This sense of inevitability is reinforced by the idea that past karma ripens into present conditions and that cosmic forces and divine will guide the larger arc of events. Yet the narrative does not allow characters to hide behind fate as an excuse; they are repeatedly held morally accountable for their choices within that given framework.

At the same time, the Mahābhārata places great emphasis on human effort, ethical discernment, and adherence to dharma. Figures such as Vidura and Bhīṣma tirelessly counsel rulers to choose justice and restraint, implying that present decisions meaningfully shape both character and future outcomes. The Bhagavad Gītā, embedded within the epic, crystallizes this teaching when Kṛṣṇa urges Arjuna to perform his duty without attachment to results, affirming that one’s right is to action, not to its fruits. This doctrine of niṣkāma karma presupposes genuine agency: even if outcomes are conditioned by destiny, the moral worth of a person lies in intention, effort, and alignment with righteousness.

The lives of the main characters dramatize this tension between what is fated and what is freely chosen. Yudhiṣṭhira, though aware that conflict is foretold, repeatedly seeks peace and conciliation, and his responsibility is assessed in light of those efforts. Duryodhana, fully warned of the ruin his greed will bring, consciously rejects good counsel and insists on following his own nature, thereby embodying a willful embrace of adharma that the text clearly condemns. Karṇa, offered the chance to join the Pāṇḍavas after learning his true birth, chooses loyalty to Duryodhana over justice, a decision portrayed as both noble in gratitude and tragically flawed in ethical terms. These examples suggest that while certain outcomes may be destined, the spiritual and moral evaluation of each character hinges on how they respond to the conditions given.

Kṛṣṇa’s role brings this synthesis into sharp relief. He is portrayed as both the cosmic power that has, in a deeper sense, already “slain” the opposing warriors and the personal guide who urges each individual to act rightly. He does not override human choice; instead, he offers counsel, reveals the larger design, and then allows characters to accept or reject his guidance. The epic’s reflective discourses, especially in its later books, repeatedly affirm that past karma and divine order provide the field of life, while present effort and moral resolve constitute the play upon that field. Wisdom, in this vision, consists in recognizing what is shaped by destiny, what remains open to choice, and then acting according to one’s dharma while inwardly surrendering attachment to the results.