Shloka 39
अव्यक्त–प्रकृति–इन्द्रियविचारः
The Unmanifest, Prakṛtis, and the Sense-Complex
न माता न पिता किंचित् कस्यचित् प्रतिपद्यते । दानपथ्यौदनो जनन््तु: स्वकर्मफलमश्रुते
na mātā na pitā kiñcit kasyacit pratipadyate | dānapathyau-dano jantuḥ svakarmaphalam aśnute ||
Parāśara sprach: Weder Mutter noch Vater können einem irgendwem auf dem Weg ins Jenseits wahrhaft etwas sichern. Für die Reise in die andere Welt ist das eigene Geben—Entsagung und Wohltätigkeit—der Wegzehr. Jedes Lebewesen kostet zuletzt nur die Frucht der eigenen Taten.
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral and spiritual responsibility is ultimately individual: even parents cannot transfer merit or guarantee one’s welfare beyond; one’s own charity/renunciation and one’s own actions determine the results one experiences.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation-oriented ethics, the sage Parāśara delivers a didactic statement emphasizing karma-phala (the fruition of one’s deeds) and presenting dāna (giving/tyāga) as the true ‘travel-provision’ for the post-mortem journey.