Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
यथा क्षेत्र मृदूभूतमद्भिराप्लावितं तथा । जनयत्यड्कुरं कर्म नृणां तद्वत् पुनर्भवम्
yathā kṣetraṃ mṛdūbhūtam adbhir āplāvitaṃ tathā | janayaty aṅkuraṃ karma nṛṇāṃ tadvat punarbhavam ||
जनक बोले—जैसे अच्छी तरह जोता हुआ, मुलायम किया हुआ और समय पर सींचा गया खेत बोए हुए बीज से अंकुर उत्पन्न करता है, वैसे ही मनुष्यों के शुभ-अशुभ कर्म ही पुनर्जन्म को उत्पन्न करते हैं।
जनक उवाच
Rebirth is not random: it is generated by one’s own karma. As a prepared and watered field makes a seed sprout, so moral and immoral actions mature into future embodiment and experience.
In a reflective, instructional exchange in the Śānti Parva, King Janaka explains a causal principle using an agrarian metaphor, linking human conduct (karma) to its inevitable fruition as renewed existence (punarbhava).