Shloka 14

कर्मनाशाभावः, गर्भे जीवप्रवेशः, आचारधर्मोपदेशः

Karma’s Non-Extinction, Jīva’s Entry into the Embryo, and Instruction on Conduct-Dharma

Devanagari script

तत्र कर्म प्रवक्ष्यामि सुखी भवति येन वै | आवर्तमानो जातीषु यथान्योन्यासु सत्तम,साधुशिरोमणे! इस प्रकार भिन्न-भिन्न योनियोंमें भ्रमण करनेवाला जीव जिनके अनुष्ठानसे सुखी होता है, उन कर्मोका वर्णन सुनो

Transliteration

tatra karma pravakṣyāmi sukhī bhavati yena vai | āvartamāno jātīṣu yathānyonyāsu sattama sādhūśiromaṇe ||

Translation

“Now I shall declare those deeds by which one truly becomes happy. O best of the good, O crest-jewel among the virtuous: as the embodied self keeps revolving through various births, passing from one form of life to another, listen to the actions whose observance brings well-being amid this wandering.”

Word by Word

तत्रthere/then

कर्मaction, deed (as topic to be told)

प्रवक्ष्यामिI shall declare/tell forth

सुखीhappy

भवतिbecomes/is

येनby which

वैindeed, surely

आवर्तमानःrevolving, wandering (again and again)

जातीषुin births/species

यथाas, just as

अन्योन्यासुin one another (mutually), among each other

सत्तमO best of beings

साधुO good one / O virtuous one

शिरोमणेO crest-jewel (best among ...)

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

ब

ब्राह्मण (speaker)

ज

जीव (the embodied self, implied by context of rebirth)

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The speaker introduces a dharma-centered teaching: certain forms of right action (karma) are said to produce genuine well-being, even for a being caught in the cycle of repeated births. Happiness is framed as the fruit of disciplined, ethical conduct rather than chance or mere circumstance.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Brahmin addresses a virtuous listener with honorifics (“best of the good,” “crest-jewel of the righteous”) and announces that he will now describe the deeds whose practice makes one happy, specifically in the context of the soul’s ongoing transmigration through different births and life-forms.