Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 14, Shloka 16
Adhyaya 14 — The Messenger of Yama Explains Karmic Retribution and the Causes of Naraka Torments
पुण्यापुण्ये हि पुरुषः पर्यायेण समश्नते ।
भुञ्जतश्च क्षयं याति पापं पुण्यमथापि वा ॥
puṇyāpuṇye hi puruṣaḥ paryāyeṇa samaśnate / bhuñjataś ca kṣayaṃ yāti pāpaṃ puṇyam athāpi vā //
मनुष्य क्रमशः पुण्य और पाप—दोनों का भोग करता है। और जब वह उनके फल भोग लेता है, तब पाप हो या पुण्य—वही भोग से क्षीण हो जाता है।
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FAQs
Karma is not eternal punishment or reward: it is consumable. Hence ethical effort matters—one can stop generating new harm while old results are being exhausted.
A doctrinal teaching on karmaphala; it supports dharma and the Purāṇa’s instructive purpose rather than the five historical-cosmic headings.
‘By turns’ indicates saṃsāric oscillation (sukha/duḥkha). Liberation requires not merely exhausting karma but ceasing identification that perpetuates new karmic production.