Shloka 8
उशनसः (शुक्रस्य) चरितम् — The Account of Uśanā (Śukra): Yoga, Grievance, and Pacification
नेशेडयं सततं देही नृपते पुण्यपापयो: । तत एव समुत्थेन तमसा रुध्यतेडपि च
bhīṣma uvāca | neśeḍayaṃ satataṃ dehī nṛpate puṇyapāpayoḥ | tata eva samutthena tamasā rudhyate 'pi ca, nareśvara |
Dijo Bhishma: «Oh rey, el ser encarnado no es de continuo el dueño independiente del mérito y del pecado (y de sus frutos). Antes bien, oh señor de los hombres, queda velado y constreñido por la oscuridad que nace de esas mismas obras—una masa de impresiones que oscurece—y bajo ese velo padece placer y dolor».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The jīva (embodied self) is not fully autonomous in experiencing pleasure and pain; it is constrained by the karmic impressions arising from merit and sin, which function like tamas (ignorance/darkness) that veils discernment and drives experience.
In the Shanti Parva dialogue, Bhishma instructs King Yudhishthira on dharma and the workings of karma. Here he explains how actions generate obscuring impressions that bind the embodied self to the experience of sukha and duḥkha.