Shloka 9
दैव–पुरुषकार-प्रश्नः
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Inquiry: Fate and Human Effort
कर्मण: फलनिर्वत्ति स्वयमश्नाति कारक: । प्रत्यक्ष दृश्यते लोके कृतस्यापकृतस्य च,कर्म करनेवाला मनुष्य अपने भले या बुरे कर्मका फल स्वयं ही भोगता है। यह बात संसारमें प्रत्यक्ष दिखायी देती है
karmaṇaḥ phalanirvṛttiḥ svayam aśnāti kārakaḥ | pratyakṣaṃ dṛśyate loke kṛtasyākṛtasya ca ||
Bhishma said: The doer himself partakes of the ripening fruit of his actions. In the world this is seen directly—both in the results of what has been done and of what has been left undone.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral causality is personal: the agent who acts (or fails to act) inevitably experiences the corresponding consequences; karma bears fruit for the doer.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma, he emphasizes a universally observable principle: outcomes arise from deeds and also from omissions, and the responsibility for those outcomes rests with the doer.