Shloka 34
Strī Parva, Adhyāya 2 — Vidura’s Consolation on Kāla, Karma, and the Limits of Lamentation (विदुरोपदेशः)
येन येन शरीरेण यद्यत् कर्म करोति यः । तेन तेन शरीरेण तत्फलं समुपाश्चुते,जो जिस-जिस शरीरसे जो-जो कर्म करता है, दूसरे जन्ममें वह उसी-उसी शरीरसे उसका फल भोगता है
yena yena śarīreṇa yadyat karma karoti yaḥ | tena tena śarīreṇa tatphalaṁ samupāśnute ||
Whatever action a man performs through a particular body, in a later birth he experiences its fruit through a corresponding embodiment.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions (karma) inevitably yield corresponding results (phala), and those results are experienced in an embodiment suited to them—often in a subsequent birth. The verse emphasizes ethical responsibility across lifetimes.
In the Strī Parva’s aftermath of the Kurukṣetra catastrophe, Vidura offers moral and philosophical counsel. Here he explains karmic retribution and rebirth to frame suffering and fate within a dharmic causal order.