Shloka 67
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
हारिद्रवर्णे रक्ते वा वर्तमानस्तु पार्थिव । तिर्यगेवानुपश्येत कर्मभिस्तामसैर्वृत:,पृथ्वीनाथ! पीतवर्णवाले देवसर्गमें तथा रक्तवर्णवाले अनुग्रहसर्गमें विद्यमान प्राणी कभी तामस कर्मोंसे आवृत होकर तिर्यग्योनिका भी दर्शन कर सकता है
hāridra-varṇe rakte vā vartamānas tu pārthiva | tiryag evānupaśyet karmabhis tāmasair vṛtaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O king, a being who is presently situated in a yellow-hued (divine) creation or even in a red-hued (favoured) creation may, when enveloped by tamasic actions, come to behold—indeed to enter—the condition of an animal birth. Thus, even higher states are not secure when conduct declines into darkness.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even if one is born or placed in a higher, more luminous condition, tamasic deeds can obscure discernment and pull the being into lower states such as animal birth; ethical conduct safeguards one’s trajectory.
In the Śānti Parva’s moral-philosophical dialogue, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king and reflects on how the quality of one’s actions (especially tamasic karma) can cause a fall from higher creations/conditions into lower embodiments.