Shloka 1
Adhyāya 222 — ब्रह्मस्थानप्राप्ति: मोक्षधर्मे समत्वव्रतम्
Attaining the Brahman-Station: The Vow of Equanimity in Mokṣadharma
युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--भारत! इस लोकमें जो यह शुभ अथवा अशुभ कर्म होता है
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca—Bhārata! iha loke yaḥ śubho vā aśubho vā karma bhavati, sa puruṣaṃ sukha-duḥkha-rūpaṃ phalaṃ bhoktavye niyunakti eva; kintu puruṣaḥ tasya karmaṇaḥ kartā vā na vā—atra me saṃśayaḥ. ataḥ pitāmaha! tvattaḥ asya tattvayuktaṃ samādhānaṃ śrotum icchāmi.
Yudhishthira said: “O Bharata! In this world, whatever action—good or bad—takes place inevitably binds a person to experience its fruit as pleasure or pain. Yet I am uncertain about this: is the person truly the doer of that action, or not? Therefore, O Grandsire, I wish to hear from you a principled resolution of this question.”
युधिष्ठिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a central ethical-philosophical problem: actions yield inevitable results (pleasure/pain), yet the status of the individual as the true agent (kartā) is questioned. It sets up Bhīṣma’s forthcoming explanation on how karma’s fruits operate alongside notions of self, causation, and responsibility.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction setting, Yudhiṣṭhira approaches the elder Bhīṣma (addressed as Pitāmaha) with a doubt about whether a person is genuinely the doer of deeds whose fruits he must experience, and requests a definitive, principled clarification.