Shloka 16
निरय-परमस्थान-वर्णनम्
Niraya and the Supreme Station: A Metaphysical Re-reading
इत्येतल्लोकनिर्माणं ब्रह्मणा विहितं पुरा । प्रजा: समनुवर्तन्ते स्वै: स्वै:ः कर्मभिरावृता:
ity etal loka-nirmāṇaṃ brahmaṇā vihitaṃ purā | prajāḥ samanuvartante svaiḥ svaiḥ karmabhir āvṛtāḥ |
Bharadvāja said: “Thus, in ancient times, this ordering and formation of the worlds was established by Brahmā. Covered over by their own respective actions, all creatures proceed accordingly and undergo the experience of pleasure and pain.”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse affirms a moral-cosmic order: Brahmā established the structure of the world, and within it beings experience pleasure and pain in accordance with their own karma; actions condition and ‘cover’ beings, shaping their lived outcomes.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional discourse, Bharadvāja summarizes a teaching on creation and the functioning of the world: the cosmos is divinely instituted, and the multitude of beings move within it driven and conditioned by their individual deeds.