Shloka 116
Adhyāya 199: Karma–Jñāna Causality and the Nirguṇa Brahman
Manu’s Instruction
नायं धारयते किज्चिज्जिज्ञासा त्वत्कृते कृता । कालो धर्मस्तथा मृत्यु: कामक्रोधौ तथा युवाम्
nāyaṃ dhārayate kiñcij jijñāsā tvat-kṛte kṛtā | kālo dharmas tathā mṛtyuḥ kāma-krodhau tathā yuvām ||
ヴィルーパは言った。「この者は何ひとつ負ってはいない――荷も義務もなく、また彼のことで私に返すべき負債もない。これらはすべて、汝らを試すために我らが演じた戯れにすぎぬ。時（カーラ）、ダルマ、死（ムリティユ）、欲（カーマ）、怒り（クローダ）――そして汝ら二人もまた――互いに互いを試金石にかけられ、汝の眼前で試され尽くした。今や望むところへ行け。自らの行いによって得た功徳により、汝が業によって勝ち得た諸世界へ赴くがよい。」
विरूप उवाच
Educational Q&A
True worth is revealed through testing: one’s conduct is weighed against Dharma amid forces like time, death, desire, and anger. The verse affirms that ethical victory is earned by one’s own karma, leading to the attainment of higher realms.
Virūpa explains that the preceding events were staged as a deliberate examination of the addressee(s). The cosmic principles—Time, Dharma, Death, Desire, and Anger—have been set in mutual comparison as a ‘touchstone’ test, after which the tested person(s) are told to proceed to the worlds merited by their deeds.