Shloka 39
अव्यक्त–प्रकृति–इन्द्रियविचारः
The Unmanifest, Prakṛtis, and the Sense-Complex
न माता न पिता किंचित् कस्यचित् प्रतिपद्यते । दानपथ्यौदनो जनन््तु: स्वकर्मफलमश्रुते
na mātā na pitā kiñcit kasyacit pratipadyate | dānapathyau-dano jantuḥ svakarmaphalam aśnute ||
Parāśara said: Neither mother nor father can truly secure anything for anyone on the path beyond. For the journey to the other world, one’s own giving—one’s renunciation and charity—serves as the provisions for the road. Each living being ultimately partakes only of the fruit of one’s own deeds.
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral and spiritual responsibility is ultimately individual: even parents cannot transfer merit or guarantee one’s welfare beyond; one’s own charity/renunciation and one’s own actions determine the results one experiences.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation-oriented ethics, the sage Parāśara delivers a didactic statement emphasizing karma-phala (the fruition of one’s deeds) and presenting dāna (giving/tyāga) as the true ‘travel-provision’ for the post-mortem journey.