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 ||
ভীষ্মে ক’লে—যেনেকৈ কোনো প্ৰেৰণা নোহোৱাকৈ গছত ফুল আৰু ফল নিজৰ নিজৰ ঋতুকালতেই ওলাই আহে আৰু নিজৰ সময় অতিক্ৰম নকৰে, তেনেকৈ পূৰ্বে কৰা কৰ্মো ফল দানৰ নিৰ্ধাৰিত সময় লংঘন নকৰে। উপযুক্ত ক্ষণ আহিলে কৰ্মফল অনিবার্যভাৱে প্ৰকাশ পায়।
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.