Shloka 8
Akṣara–Kṣara Viveka: Vasiṣṭha–Karāla-Janaka Saṃvāda (अक्षर-क्षर विवेकः)
कि कष्टमनुपश्यामि फलं पापस्य कर्मण: । प्रत्यापन्नस्य हि ततो नात्मा तावद् विरोचते
kiṁ kaṣṭam anupaśyāmi phalaṁ pāpasya karmaṇaḥ | pratyāpannasya hi tato nātmā tāvad virocate ||
Parāśara said: “What painful consequence do I see as the fruit of sinful action? None at all—so he thinks, and thus turns toward sin. But for the person who has so inclined himself, the Self (and the remembrance of the Supreme Self) does not shine forth; until then, inner clarity and delight in God-remembrance do not arise.”
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sin often begins with the delusion that no immediate suffering will follow; yet the deeper consequence is inner darkness—loss of clarity, conscience, and taste for remembrance of the Self/Supreme.
Parāśara is instructing about the subtle effects of wrongdoing: even if a sinner claims to see no painful ‘fruit’ right away, the mind’s capacity to recognize and delight in the Self (and God-thought) becomes obscured.