Shloka 40
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
भविष्यति च मे दुःखं कृतेनेहाप्पनन्तकम् । महद् दुःखं हि मानुष्यं निरये चापि मज्जनम्
bhaviṣyati ca me duḥkhaṃ kṛteneha appanantakam | mahad duḥkhaṃ hi mānuṣyaṃ niraye cāpi majjanam ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “If in this very life I commit evil deeds, endless suffering will come to me here itself. Human existence is indeed laden with great distress; and beyond that, the fruit of sin makes one sink into hell as well.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vasiṣṭha emphasizes karmic causality: wrongful actions generate suffering both in this life and, through their ripened results, in the afterlife (hell). The verse urges ethical restraint by highlighting the inevitability of consequences.
In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, Vasiṣṭha speaks as a moral instructor, warning against sinful conduct by describing the double burden of pain—worldly misery compounded by post-mortem punishment.