Shloka 42
मयैव यानि कर्माणि पूर्वदेहे तु मूढया । कृतानि नूनं पापानि तेषामेतत् फल ध्रुवम्,“मुझ मूढ़ नारीने अपने पूर्वजन्मके शरीरसे जो पापकर्म किये थे, अवश्य ही उन्हींका यह दुःखदायक फल प्राप्त हुआ है
mayaiva yāni karmāṇi pūrvadehe tu mūḍhayā | kṛtāni nūnaṃ pāpāni teṣām etat phalaṃ dhruvam ||
Bhīṣma said: “The sinful deeds that I myself, in my folly, committed in a former embodiment—this present suffering is surely their inevitable and certain result.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
One’s present suffering can be understood as the inevitable fruit (phala) of one’s own past actions (karma); acknowledging personal responsibility is central to ethical reflection in the epic.
Bhīṣma, speaking in the Udyoga Parva context, voices a reflective confession: the pain now experienced is not random but the certain consequence of wrongful deeds committed in a previous embodiment.