Shloka 11
शोक-शमन उपदेशः
Instruction on the Pacification of Grief
कर्मणा प्राप्यते स्वर्ग: सुखं दु:खं च भारत । ततो वहति त॑ भारमवश: स्ववशो5पि वा,भरतनन्दन! कर्मके अनुसार ही परलोकमें स्वर्ग या नरक तथा इहलोकमें सुख और दुःख प्राप्त होते हैं; फिर मनुष्य सुख या दुःखके उस भारको स्वाधीन या पराधीन होकर ढोता रहता है
karmaṇā prāpyate svargaḥ sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ ca bhārata | tato vahati taṁ bhāram avaśaḥ svavaśo 'pi vā bharatanandana ||
Vidura said: “O Bhārata, it is by one’s own actions that heaven is attained, and likewise pleasure and pain. Thereafter a person bears that burden—of happiness or suffering—whether helplessly compelled or even while imagining oneself to be in control, O joy of the Bharatas.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura teaches that experiences of pleasure and pain—and even heavenly attainment—arise from one’s own karma. Once results mature, a person must endure them as a ‘burden’, whether feeling powerless or believing oneself to be self-directed; the moral emphasis is on responsibility for action and acceptance of its fruits.
In the Strī Parva’s aftermath of the war, Vidura speaks to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, offering ethical counsel and consolation. He frames the king’s suffering within the doctrine of karma: the present grief is a consequence of prior deeds and must be borne as the ripened result.