Shloka 35
Devaśarmā–Vipula Dialogue on Ahorātra–Ṛtu as Moral Witnesses (अनुशासन पर्व, अध्याय ४३)
अकृशो वायुभग्नाड्: शकुनिर्विकृतस्तथा । चतुष्पाद् बहुरूपश्च पुनर्भवति बालिश:
akṛśo vāyubhagnāṅgaḥ śakunir vikṛtas tathā | catuṣpād bahurūpaś ca punar bhavati bāliśaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Au fil des renaissances, un être peut paraître sous bien des états altérés : tantôt maigre, tantôt le corps brisé par les troubles du vent (vāta), tantôt oiseau, tantôt difforme. Il peut encore devenir une bête à quatre pattes, ou un être aux formes multiples, voire un sot à l’esprit obtus.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
That the results of karma can manifest as varied and even diminished embodiments—illness, deformity, animal birth, or foolishness—highlighting the ethical urgency of right conduct and right understanding.
Bhīṣma is instructing about the workings of karma and saṃsāra, describing how a being may repeatedly take different bodily forms and conditions across births, including human, animal, and impaired states.