Shloka 14
मृत्युकारणप्रश्नः / Inquiry into the Cause and Designation of Death
यत् करोत्यनभिसंधिपूर्वक॑ तच्च निर्णुदति तत् पुराकृतम् । न प्रियं तदुभयं न चाप्रियं तस्य तज्जनयतीह कुर्वत:
yat karoty anabhisaṃdhi-pūrvakaṃ tac ca nirṇudati tat purākṛtam | na priyaṃ tad ubhayaṃ na cāpriyaṃ tasya taj janayatīha kurvataḥ ||
Vyāsa said: Whatever a person does here without prior intention or ulterior motive, that act cancels out (or wards off) what was done in the past. For such a doer, the two results—pleasant and unpleasant—do not arise as binding outcomes; neither the agreeable nor the disagreeable is produced for him by that action while he acts in this manner.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions performed without ulterior motive or premeditated self-interest do not generate binding pleasant or unpleasant results; such motive-free action is said to neutralize the force of prior deeds (purākṛta), pointing toward karmic purification through detached conduct.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and the workings of karma, Vyāsa explains a principle of ethical causality: the inner intention behind action determines whether it binds the agent to future pleasure and pain, or instead becomes a means of diminishing past karmic burden.