Shloka 21
प्रजापतयः देवगणाश्च दिशि-दिशि स्थिताः ऋषयः
Prajāpatis, Deva-Groups, and the Ṛṣis Assigned to the Directions
यद् यच्छरीरेण करोति कर्म शरीरयुक्त: समुपाश्चुते तत् शरीरमेवायतनं सुखस्य दुःखस्य चाप्यायतनं शरीरम्
yad yac charīreṇa karoti karma śarīra-yuktaḥ samupāśnute tat | śarīram evāyatanaṃ sukhasya duḥkhasya cāpy āyatanaṃ śarīram ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Welche Handlung ein Mensch auch immer durch den Leib vollbringt—solange er verkörpert ist, erfährt er ihre Folgen. Denn der Leib selbst ist der Ort, an dem Lust und Schmerz erlitten werden.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions done through the body bear fruits that are experienced while one is embodied; the body is the concrete field where pleasure and pain manifest, so ethical responsibility for bodily acts is unavoidable.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right conduct, Bhishma explains to the listener that karmic results are not abstract: they are actually undergone in embodied life, because the body is the seat of felt experience.