Shloka 8
उशनसः (शुक्रस्य) चरितम् — The Account of Uśanā (Śukra): Yoga, Grievance, and Pacification
नेशेडयं सततं देही नृपते पुण्यपापयो: । तत एव समुत्थेन तमसा रुध्यतेडपि च
bhīṣma uvāca | neśeḍayaṃ satataṃ dehī nṛpate puṇyapāpayoḥ | tata eva samutthena tamasā rudhyate 'pi ca, nareśvara |
Bhishma dit : «Ô roi, l’âme incarnée n’est pas sans cesse le maître indépendant du mérite et du péché (et de leurs fruits). Au contraire, ô seigneur des hommes, elle se trouve voilée et contrainte par l’obscurité qui naît de ces actes mêmes—une masse d’empreintes qui obscurcit—et, sous ce voile, elle éprouve plaisir et souffrance.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The jīva (embodied self) is not fully autonomous in experiencing pleasure and pain; it is constrained by the karmic impressions arising from merit and sin, which function like tamas (ignorance/darkness) that veils discernment and drives experience.
In the Shanti Parva dialogue, Bhishma instructs King Yudhishthira on dharma and the workings of karma. Here he explains how actions generate obscuring impressions that bind the embodied self to the experience of sukha and duḥkha.