Shloka 18
अतः: पर प्रवक्ष्यामि लोकानां कर्मसाक्षिण:
ataḥ paraṃ pravakṣyāmi lokānāṃ karmasākṣiṇaḥ
Bhishma said: “Therefore, I shall now describe those who stand as witnesses to the deeds of the worlds. Though unseen, they continually observe the auspicious and inauspicious actions of all beings, and they know the truth of sacrifice, charity, and meritorious conduct. Their names are Death (Mṛtyu), Time (Kāla), the Viśvedevas, and the embodied Pitṛs (ancestral fathers). Besides these, ascetic sages and perfected seers devoted to austerity and liberation also look upon the whole world with a benevolent gaze. All of them grant auspicious results to those humans who recite and celebrate their names.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions are not morally private: unseen cosmic principles and divine/ancestral beings (and also realized sages) continually witness beings’ good and bad deeds. Remembering and honoring these witnesses—especially through name-recitation—supports ethical living and yields auspicious results.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he introduces a set of ‘witnesses of karma’—Mṛtyu, Kāla, the Viśvedevas, and the Pitṛs—and adds that ascetics and perfected seers also watch the world with goodwill, granting benefits to those who praise them.