य एवं कुरुते कर्म शुभाशुभफलात्मकम्
ya evaṁ kurute karma śubhāśubhaphalātmakam
Vasiṣṭha berkata: “Siapa pun yang melakukan tindakan yang pada hakikatnya menghasilkan buah baik maupun buruk…”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
The verse frames karma as ethically consequential: actions are characterized by the fruits they generate—auspicious or inauspicious (or mixed). It sets up the principle that one should understand deeds through their moral outcomes and the responsibility that follows from producing such results.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vasiṣṭha speaks as a teacher, introducing a statement about a person who performs actions that yield both good and bad fruits. The line functions as the opening of a longer explanation about how such karma binds, ripens, or should be evaluated within dharma-discourse.