Shloka 24
Śāṇḍilī–Sumanā-saṃvāda: Sat-strī-samudācāra and Pati-dharma
Conduct of the Virtuous Wife
न वृत्तं मन्यते तस्य मन््यते न च पातकम् | तथा स्वकर्मनिर्वत्तं न पुण्यंन च पापकम्
na vṛttaṁ manyate tasya manyate na ca pātakam | tathā svakarmanirvṛttaṁ na puṇyaṁ na ca pāpakam ||
Vyāsa dit : Pour cet homme, aucun acte n’est tenu pour « mérite », et aucun n’est tenu pour « péché ». De même, les actions issues de son devoir prescrit ne deviennent pour lui ni vertueuses ni vicieuses. Établi en Brahman et délivré de l’orgueil de se croire l’agent, il n’amasse pas les fruits de mérite et de démérite nés de l’action.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person established in Brahman and free from the ego of doership is not bound by action: his deeds are not counted as merit or sin, because the binding factor—self-centered agency and attachment to results—has been dissolved.
Vyāsa is explaining a doctrinal point within Anuśāsana Parva: the spiritual status of the Brahman-abiding person. He clarifies that even when such a person performs his own duties (svakarma), those actions do not generate karmic merit or demerit.