Shloka 17
Yoga-kṛtya (योककृत्य) — Vyāsa on Sense-Restraint, Obstacles, and Brahman-Realization
हिंस्राहिंस्रे मृदुक्ूरे धर्माधमावृतानृते । तद्धाविता: प्रपद्यन्ते तस्मात् तत् तस्य रोचते,एक जन्ममें मनुष्य हिंसा-अहिंसा, कोमलता-कठोरता, धर्म-अधर्म और सच-झूठ आदि जिन गुणों या दोषोंको अपनाता है, दूसरे जन्ममें भी उनके संस्कारोंसे प्रभावित होकर उन्हीं गुणोंको वह पसंद करता और वैसे ही कार्योमें लग जाता है
hiṃsrāhiṃsre mṛdukrūre dharmādharmāvṛtānṛte | taddhāvitāḥ prapadyante tasmāt tat tasya rocate ||
Vyāsa explains that a person’s tendencies are shaped by what they repeatedly choose: violence or non-violence, gentleness or cruelty, righteousness or unrighteousness, truth or falsehood. Driven by those ingrained dispositions, they take to the same kinds of actions again; therefore, what one has cultivated comes to feel pleasing and natural to them—even in a later birth.
व्यास उवाच