Shloka 5
Karma-Phala Rahasya and the Ethics of Dāna (कर्मफल-रहस्यं दानधर्मश्च)
न नश्यति कृतं कर्म सदा पज्चेन्द्रियैरिह । ते हास्य साक्षिणो नित्यं पष्ठ आत्मा तथैव च
na naśyati kṛtaṃ karma sadā pañcendriyaiḥ iha | te hāsya sākṣiṇo nityaṃ ṣaṣṭha ātmā tathaiva ca ||
Bhīṣma dit : Un acte accompli ici par l’entremise des cinq sens ne périt jamais véritablement. Ces cinq sens en sont les témoins constants, et le sixième l’est aussi — le soi intérieur (l’esprit, la conscience intime) — qui l’observe sans cesse. Ainsi, même sans juge extérieur, les actions demeurent moralement imputables, portées et attestées au cœur même de celui qui les accomplit.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
No action is ever lost: deeds leave an enduring moral trace. Even if society does not notice, the five senses involved in the act and the inner self/mind remain constant witnesses, grounding personal responsibility and ethical restraint.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right conduct. Here he emphasizes that actions cannot be erased and that the agent carries internal testimony—senses and inner awareness—so one should act with integrity even in secrecy.