Shloka 15
अव्यक्त–व्यक्त–कारणकार्यविवेकः
Avyakta–Vyakta and Causality: Discrimination of Field and Knower
प्रणीतं कर्मणा मार्ग नीयमान: पुन: पुनः । प्राप्रोत्ययं कर्मफल प्रवृत्तं धर्ममाप्तवान्
bhīṣma uvāca | praṇītaṃ karmaṇā mārgaṃ nīyamānaḥ punaḥ punaḥ | prāpnoty ayaṃ karmaphalaṃ pravṛttaṃ dharmam āptavān |
Bhishma sprach: Wer Zuflucht nimmt zu Handeln, das von weltlicher Verstrickung—Verdienst und Schuld—beherrscht wird, wird durch seine eigenen Taten immer wieder auf den Pfad des Handelns geführt. So lässt man ihn im Kreislauf des Daseins umherirren, und wiederholt erlangt er die Früchte des Karma in Gestalt von Lust und Schmerz.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Attachment to pravṛtti-oriented action (merit–demerit producing deeds) keeps the being bound to samsāra: karma itself repeatedly drives one along the karmic path, yielding inevitable results as sukha and duḥkha.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma continues advising on dharma and liberation-oriented reflection, explaining to the listener that worldly action governed by merit and demerit causes repeated wandering and repeated experience of karmic fruits.