Shloka 11

Adhyāya 241: Guṇa-sṛṣṭi, Kṣetrajña-sākṣitva, and Śama through Ātma-jñāna (गुणसृष्टिः, क्षेत्रज्ञसाक्षित्वं, शमः)

Devanagari script

कर्मण: फलमाप्रोति सुखदु:खे भवाभवौ | विद्यया तदवाप्रोति यत्र गत्वा न शोचति,“कर्मके फल हैं सुख-दुःख और जन्म-मृत्यु। कर्मद्वारा मनुष्य इन्हींको पाते हैं, परंतु ज्ञानके द्वारा उन्हें उस परमपदकी प्राप्ति होती है, जहाँ जानेसे सदाके लिये शोकसे मुक्त हो जाता है

Transliteration

karmaṇaḥ phalam āpnoti sukhaduḥkhe bhavābhavau | vidyayā tad avāpnoti yatra gatvā na śocati ||

Translation

Bhishma teaches that action yields its natural fruits—pleasure and pain, and the cycle of coming-to-be and ceasing-to-be (birth and death). By action a person attains only these conditioned results; but through true knowledge one reaches that highest state, having gone to which one no longer grieves.

Word by Word

कर्मणःof/from action (karma)

फलम्fruit, result

आप्नोतिattains, obtains

सुखदुःखेpleasure and pain

भवाभवौexistence and non-existence (birth and death)

विद्ययाby knowledge

तत्that (state/goal)

अवाप्नोतिattains, reaches

यत्रwhere

गत्वाhaving gone

नnot

शोचतिgrieves, laments

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Karma produces finite, dualistic results—pleasure/pain and continued samsaric becoming (birth and death). Liberating knowledge (vidyā) leads to the supreme state beyond these results, where sorrow ceases.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma addresses the listener (Yudhishthira in this section) and contrasts the outcomes of action with the higher attainment gained through knowledge, emphasizing the path toward freedom from grief.