Shloka 46
अव्यक्त–प्रकृति–इन्द्रियविचारः
The Unmanifest, Prakṛtis, and the Sense-Complex
स्वरूपतामात्मकृतं च विस्तरं कुलान्वयं द्रव्यसमृद्धिसंचयम् । नरो हि सर्वो लभते यथाकृतं शुभाशुभेनात्मकृतेन कर्मणा
svarūpatām ātmakṛtaṃ ca vistaraṃ kulānvayaṃ dravyasamṛddhisañcayam | naro hi sarvo labhate yathākṛtaṃ śubhāśubhena ātmakṛtena karmaṇā ||
Parāśara dit : L’homme obtient—selon ce qu’il a lui-même accompli—la beauté ou la laideur du corps, l’ampleur de sa descendance (fils et petits-fils dignes ou indignes), la naissance dans une lignée noble ou basse, et l’accumulation des richesses et de la prospérité. Car chaque être humain récolte des fruits exactement conformes à ses actes, favorables ou défavorables, qu’il a produits lui-même.
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches moral causality: one’s own auspicious and inauspicious actions shape concrete life outcomes—appearance, family expansion, birth in a particular lineage, and material prosperity—so responsibility for one’s condition primarily lies in one’s self-performed karma.
In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, the sage Parāśara is instructing about the workings of karma, emphasizing that social standing, progeny, and wealth are not random but arise in accordance with one’s prior and present deeds.