Shloka 39
Draupadī’s Lament and Theodicy: Dharma, Dice, and Īśvara’s Governance (Āraṇyaka-parva 31)
कर्मणां फलमस्तीह तथैतद् धर्मशासनम् | ब्रह्मा प्रोवाच पुत्राणां यदृषिर्वेद कश्यप:,कर्मोका फल यहाँ अवश्य प्राप्त होता है, यह धर्मशास्त्रका विधान है। यह बात ब्रह्माजीने अपने पुत्रोंसे कही है, जिसे कश्यप ऋषि जानते हैं
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | karmaṇāṁ phalam astīha tathaitad dharmaśāsanam | brahmā provāca putrāṇāṁ yad ṛṣir veda kaśyapaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “In this world, actions do bear fruit—such is the ordinance of dharma. This truth was proclaimed by Brahmā to his sons, and the sage Kaśyapa is one who knows it.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse affirms the doctrine of karma-phala: every action inevitably yields a corresponding result, and this is presented not as opinion but as dharmaśāsana—an authoritative moral law traced to Brahmā and known by sages like Kaśyapa.
Yudhiṣṭhira, speaking within the Vana Parva discourse context, supports his ethical reasoning by citing a traditional lineage of authority: Brahmā taught this principle to his sons, and Kaśyapa is invoked as a seer who knows and preserves that teaching.