Shloka 36
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
शतं सहस्राणि चतुर्दशेह परागतिर्जीवगणस्य दैत्य | आरोहणं तत्कृतमेव विद्धि स्थान तथा नि:सरणं च तेषाम्
śataṁ sahasrāṇi caturdaśeha parāgatir jīvagaṇasya daitya | ārohaṇaṁ tatkṛtam eva viddhi sthānaṁ tathā niḥsaraṇaṁ ca teṣām ||
Bhishma berkata: “Wahai Daitya, rentang tujuan kelahiran-ulang bagi himpunan makhluk hidup di sini dinyatakan berjumlah empat belas ratus ribu. Ketahuilah bahwa kenaikan mereka ke alam-alam yang lebih tinggi terlaksana melalui empat belas perangkat itu juga; demikian pula menetap pada kedudukan tertentu serta keluar atau jatuh dari kedudukan itu terjadi bergantung padanya. Karena itu, arah moral dari daya-daya batin dan indria itulah yang menentukan apakah seorang makhluk naik, bertahan, atau merosot.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A being’s rise to higher states, stability in a given state, and fall from it are governed by the functioning and moral orientation of the fourteen instruments (five sense-organs, five action-organs, and the inner faculties such as mind and intellect). Hence ethical discipline of these faculties is decisive for one’s destiny.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction during the Śānti Parva, he addresses a Daitya-lord and explains a cosmological-ethical account of how living beings experience many kinds of destinies, emphasizing that these outcomes depend on the operation of the senses and inner faculties.