Shloka 8
उशनसः (शुक्रस्य) चरितम् — The Account of Uśanā (Śukra): Yoga, Grievance, and Pacification
नेशेडयं सततं देही नृपते पुण्यपापयो: । तत एव समुत्थेन तमसा रुध्यतेडपि च
bhīṣma uvāca | neśeḍayaṃ satataṃ dehī nṛpate puṇyapāpayoḥ | tata eva samutthena tamasā rudhyate 'pi ca, nareśvara |
ビーシュマは言った。「王よ、身を帯びた自己は、功徳と罪（およびその果）を常に自在に支配する主ではない。むしろ人々の君よ、それらの行為そのものから生じる闇—印象（サンスカーラ）の塊—によって覆われ、縛られ、その覆いの下で楽と苦を受けるのだ。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The jīva (embodied self) is not fully autonomous in experiencing pleasure and pain; it is constrained by the karmic impressions arising from merit and sin, which function like tamas (ignorance/darkness) that veils discernment and drives experience.
In the Shanti Parva dialogue, Bhishma instructs King Yudhishthira on dharma and the workings of karma. Here he explains how actions generate obscuring impressions that bind the embodied self to the experience of sukha and duḥkha.