Shloka 48
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
सप्तोत्तरं तत्र वसत्यनीश: संहारविक्षेपशतं सशेषम् | तस्मादुपावृत्य मनुष्यलोके ततो महान् मानुषतामुपैति,“किंतु जो भलीभाँति योगसाधनमें असमर्थ है, वह योगगश्रष्ट पुरुष सौ कल्पोंतक ऊपरके सात लोकोंमें निवास करता है। फिर बचे हुए कर्मसंस्कारोंके सहित वहाँसे लौटकर मनुष्यलोकमें पहलेसे बढ़कर महत्त्व-सम्पन्न हो मनुष्यशरीरको पाता है
saptottaraṃ tatra vasaty anīśaḥ saṃhāra-vikṣepa-śataṃ saśeṣam | tasmād upāvṛtya manuṣya-loke tato mahān mānuṣatām upaiti ||
Bhīṣma dijo: Quien no es plenamente diestro en la práctica del yoga mora allí—en los mundos superiores—por un período que se extiende hasta cien ciclos de disolución y re-manifestación, con restos de huellas kármicas aún presentes. Desde allí, al regresar al mundo humano, obtiene un nacimiento humano de mayor estatura y capacidad que antes, llevando consigo esas impresiones restantes hacia la culminación del sendero yóguico.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even if a practitioner fails to complete yoga, the effort is not wasted: he enjoys an elevated post-mortem state for a long duration, then returns to human life with enhanced capacity and status, carrying residual karmic impressions that support renewed spiritual progress.
In Bhishma’s instruction (Shanti Parva), he explains the post-death trajectory of a yoga-practitioner who is unable to finish the discipline: residence in higher worlds for an extended cosmic measure, followed by return to the human world in a more eminent birth, still bearing remaining karmic traces.