Shloka 21
Akṣara–Kṣara Viveka: Vasiṣṭha–Karāla-Janaka Saṃvāda (अक्षर-क्षर विवेकः)
एवं कर्माणि यानीह बुद्धियुक्तानि पार्थिव । समानि चैव यानीह तानि पुण्यतमान्यपि
evaṁ karmāṇi yānīha buddhiyuktāni pārthiva | samāni caiva yānīha tāni puṇyatamāny api, rājan |
Parāśara said: “O king, when a person performs deeds here with discerning intelligence, those meritorious acts accumulate. And when further meritorious deeds of the same kind are performed, they join with the earlier store—just as fresh water poured into a water-filled, well-baked jar blends with what is already inside and increases it. In this way, the combined merit becomes even more excellent, and the doer becomes greatly meritorious.”
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Merit grows cumulatively: discerning, well-directed virtuous actions create a store of puṇya, and later similar good deeds merge with and increase that store, making one’s moral-spiritual capital stronger.
Parāśara instructs a king using a household analogy: as added water increases the total in a jar by mixing with what is already there, so new virtuous deeds combine with previously accumulated merit to produce greater excellence in righteousness.