Shloka 34
Strī Parva, Adhyāya 2 — Vidura’s Consolation on Kāla, Karma, and the Limits of Lamentation (विदुरोपदेशः)
येन येन शरीरेण यद्यत् कर्म करोति यः । तेन तेन शरीरेण तत्फलं समुपाश्चुते,जो जिस-जिस शरीरसे जो-जो कर्म करता है, दूसरे जन्ममें वह उसी-उसी शरीरसे उसका फल भोगता है
yena yena śarīreṇa yadyat karma karoti yaḥ | tena tena śarīreṇa tatphalaṁ samupāśnute ||
Vidura teaches that whatever action a person performs through a particular body, the fruit of that action is inevitably experienced through a corresponding embodiment in a later birth. In this way, moral causality is not escaped by death: deeds mature into results, and the soul meets them in the very condition suited to their enjoyment or suffering.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions (karma) inevitably yield corresponding results (phala), and those results are experienced in an embodiment suited to them—often in a subsequent birth. The verse emphasizes ethical responsibility across lifetimes.
In the Strī Parva’s aftermath of the Kurukṣetra catastrophe, Vidura offers moral and philosophical counsel. Here he explains karmic retribution and rebirth to frame suffering and fate within a dharmic causal order.