Shloka 12
Śvetadvīpa-varṇana and Śāstra-pravartana (Śānti Parva 322)
अचोटद्यमानानि यथा पुष्पाणि च फलानि च । स्वं काल॑ नातिवर्तन्ते तथा कर्म पुरा कृतम्
acoṭadyamānāni yathā puṣpāṇi ca phalāni ca | svaṃ kālaṃ nātivartante tathā karma purā kṛtam ||
قال بهيشما: «كما تظهر الأزهار والثمار على الشجرة في موسمها من تلقاء نفسها من غير إكراه ولا حثّ، كذلك الأفعال التي فُعلت في الماضي لا تتجاوز وقتها المعيَّن لإعطاء النتائج. إن نضج الكارما يأتي لا محالة حين يحين أوانه.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Karma ripens according to its own proper time: past actions inevitably yield results when the conditions and season are ready, just as a tree naturally produces flowers and fruits in due season without external coercion.
In the instruction-heavy Shanti Parva, Bhishma is teaching about dharma and the workings of moral causality. Here he uses a natural analogy—seasonal flowering and fruiting—to explain that the fruition of previously performed actions cannot be hastened or avoided beyond its destined time.