Shloka 23
प्रजापतयः देवगणाश्च दिशि-दिशि स्थिताः ऋषयः
Prajāpatis, Deva-Groups, and the Ṛṣis Assigned to the Directions
यथा यथा कर्मगुणं फलार्थी करोत्ययं कर्मफले निविष्ट: । तथा तथायं गुणसम्प्रयुक्त: शुभाशुभं॑ कर्मफलं भुनक्ति,फलकी इच्छा रखनेवाला मनुष्य कर्मके फलमें आसक्त हो जैसे-जैसे गुणवाला-- सात््विक, राजस या तामस कर्म करता है, वैसे-ही-वैसे गुणोंसे प्रेरित होकर इसे उस कर्मका शुभाशुभ फल भोगना पड़ता है
yathā yathā karmaguṇaṁ phalārthī karoty ayaṁ karmaphale niviṣṭaḥ | tathā tathāyaṁ guṇasamprayuktaḥ śubhāśubhaṁ karmaphalaṁ bhunakti ||
Bhishma says: As a person who seeks results performs actions of a particular quality—being absorbed in the expectation of their fruits—so, driven by those very qualities, he inevitably experiences the corresponding fruit of his deeds, whether auspicious or inauspicious.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions performed with desire for results, shaped by the guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas), inevitably yield corresponding outcomes; one must understand how inner qualities and attachment to fruit govern the experience of auspicious or inauspicious results.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma continues a moral-philosophical discourse on karma: he explains the causal link between the guṇa-driven nature of one’s actions, attachment to their fruits, and the necessity of experiencing the resulting consequences.