Shloka 16
Viṣṇu-sahasranāma—Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Recitation (विष्णोर्नामसहस्रम्)
न हि पुण्यं तथा पापं कृतं किंचिद् विनश्यति । पर्वकाले च यत् किंचिदादित्यं चाधितिष्ठति
na hi puṇyaṃ tathā pāpaṃ kṛtaṃ kiṃcid vinaśyati | parvakāle ca yat kiṃcid ādityaṃ cādhi tiṣṭhati ||
Yama dit : «En vérité, aucun mérite ni aucun péché accompli ne périt jamais. Et tout ce qui est fait au moment propice—sous l’influence présidante du Soleil—prend aussi sa place dans l’ordre moral et donne le fruit qui lui est dû.»
यम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse affirms the permanence of karmic causality: neither merit (puṇya) nor sin (pāpa) disappears without consequence; deeds remain effective within the moral-cosmic order and mature into results in due course.
Yama, as the authority on justice and the afterlife, instructs the listener that actions are never lost. He adds that actions performed in their proper time/season—under the Sun’s presiding order—are also duly registered and bear fruit.