Shloka 15
Akṣara–Kṣara Viveka: Vasiṣṭha–Karāla-Janaka Saṃvāda (अक्षर-क्षर विवेकः)
यथा सूक्ष्माणि कर्माणि फलन्तीह यथातथम् । बुद्धियुक्तानि तानीह कृतानि मनसा सह
yathā sūkṣmāṇi karmāṇi phalantīha yathātatham | buddhiyuktāni tānīha kṛtāni manasā saha ||
法を知るジャナカ王よ。世においていかに微細な行いであっても、心とともに為され、分別の智慧に導かれてなされるなら、その性質にふさわしい果を必ずや熟す。同様に、暴力のごとき荒々しい行いもまた然り。たとえ恐るべき罪が無知のうちに犯されたとしても、それがなお作られ積み重なるなら、やはりその報いを生む。ただし違いは、知って故意に行った場合に比べ、無意識の行いの果ははるかに小さいということだ。
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
All actions, even very subtle ones, inevitably produce results suited to their nature. Intention matters: wrongdoing done unknowingly still bears fruit, but its consequence is lighter than the fruit of deliberate, knowing wrongdoing.
In Śānti Parva, the sage Parāśara instructs King Janaka on ethical causality: how deeds—mental and physical—generate karmic results, and how knowledge/intent affects the weight of those results.