Shloka 58
Sarasvatī–Tārkṣya Saṃvāda: Agnihotra-vidhi, Dāna-phala, and Mokṣa-prasaṅga (सरस्वती–तार्क्ष्यसंवादः)
कुतो वा सुखदु:खेषु नृणां ब्रह्म॒विदां वर । इह वा कृतमन्वेति परदेहेडथ वा पुन:,“मैं सोचता हूँ, शुभ और अशुभ कर्म करनेवाला जो पुरुष है, वह अपने उन कर्मोंका फल कैसे भोगता है तथा ईश्वर उन कर्मफलोंका रचयिता कैसे होता है? ब्रह्मवेत्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ मुनीश्वर! सुख और दु:खकी प्राप्ति करानेवाले कर्मोमें मनुष्योंकी प्रवृत्ति कैसे होती है? मनुष्यका किया कर्म इस लोकमें ही उसका अनुसरण करता है अथवा पारलौकिक शरीरमें भी
kuto vā sukhaduḥkheṣu nṛṇāṃ brahmavidāṃ vara | iha vā kṛtam anv eti paradehe ’tha vā punaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O best among the knowers of Brahman, from what source do pleasure and pain arise for human beings? Does a deed performed here follow a person only in this very world, or does it pursue one again in another body as well?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a central karmic inquiry: pleasure and pain are not random but have causes, and actions may bear fruit either in this life or in a subsequent embodiment—raising the ethical responsibility of human choice and conduct.
Vaiśaṃpāyana, in the course of the Vana Parva narration, voices a philosophical question to a Brahman-knowing sage: whether deeds ‘follow’ a person only in the present life or continue to yield consequences after death in another body.