Shloka 28
सर्गभेदाः — अविद्या, स्रोतोभेदाः, नव सर्गाः, देवासुरादिसृष्टिः, वेद-यज्ञप्रादुर्भावः
कर्मभिर् भाविताः पूर्वैः कुशलाकुशलैस् तु ताः ख्यात्या तया ह्य् अनिर्मुक्ताः संहारे ऽप्य् उपसंहृताः
karmabhir bhāvitāḥ pūrvaiḥ kuśalākuśalais tu tāḥ khyātyā tayā hy anirmuktāḥ saṃhāre 'py upasaṃhṛtāḥ
Conditioned by former deeds, wholesome and unwholesome, beings remain bound to that acquired disposition; not released from it, they are gathered up even at the time of dissolution.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How karmic impressions persist and what is gathered at dissolution
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: revealing
Concept: Beings carry forward dispositions formed by past wholesome and unwholesome actions, which persist even through cosmic dissolution.
Vedantic Theme: Karma
Application: Cultivate sattvic habits and devotion now, recognizing that saṃskāras endure and shape future experience.
Vishishtadvaita: Implies continuity of the jīva’s attributes/saṃskāras under the Lord’s governance across cycles, supporting a real, enduring individual self (not illusory) within divine order.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse states that beings are still conditioned by prior good and bad actions and are absorbed at dissolution without being freed from those impressions, implying continuity of karmic causality across cosmic cycles.
He indicates that past deeds ‘shape’ beings into particular dispositions, and that disposition remains unbroken; even when the universe is withdrawn, the jīva’s karmic conditioning is not automatically dissolved.
Vishnu is implied as the supreme regulator of universal order: creation and dissolution occur under his sovereignty, while moral causality persists so that beings re-emerge in accordance with their karma.