Shloka 7

Devanagari script

तत्कारणैहिं संयुक्त कार्यसंग्रहकारकम्‌ । येनैतद्‌ वर्तते चक्रमनादिनिधनं महत्‌,इन कारणोंसे युक्त होकर जीव कर्मोंका संग्रह करता है। कर्मोंसे वासना और वासनाओंसे पुनः कर्म होते हैं। इस प्रकार यह अनादि, अनन्त महान्‌ संसार-चक्र चलता रहता है

Transliteration

tatkāraṇaiḥ saṁyuktaḥ kārya-saṅgraha-kārakam | yenaitad vartate cakram anādi-nidhanaṁ mahat ||

Translation

Bhishma dit : Pourvu de ces facteurs causaux, l’être incarné accumule et emmagasine les actes. Des actes naissent des impressions latentes et des désirs, et de ces désirs renaissent des actes. Ainsi, la grande roue de l’existence mondaine—sans commencement ni fin—continue de tourner.

Word by Word

तत्that (thing/this)

कारणैःby causes

हिindeed/for

संयुक्तम्joined/associated

कार्य-संग्रह-कारकम्the agent/cause of accumulating actions (works)

येनby which

एतत्this

वर्ततेturns/continues/exists

चक्रम्wheel/cycle

अनादि-निधनम्beginningless and endless (lit. without beginning and end)

महत्great

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

saṁsāra-cakra (the wheel/cycle of worldly existence)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Actions generate latent tendencies (vāsanās), and those tendencies propel further action; this mutual reinforcement keeps the beginningless, seemingly endless cycle of saṁsāra in motion. Ethical discipline and insight are implied as the means to weaken this causal chain.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhīṣma explains to the listener the mechanism by which beings become bound: causal conditions lead to accumulation of karma, which in turn produces dispositions that drive repeated action, sustaining the world-cycle.