Shloka 74
Chapter 2: Sudarśana Upākhyāna — Atithi-Dharma and the Conquest of Mṛtyu
Gṛhastha-Vrata
नित्यमेव हि पश्यन्ति देहिनां देहसंश्रिता: । सुकृतं दुष्कृतं चापि कर्म धर्मभूतां वर
nityam eva hi paśyanti dehināṁ dehasaṁśritāḥ | sukṛtaṁ duṣkṛtaṁ cāpi karma dharmabhūtāṁ vara ||
“ಧರ್ಮಾತ್ಮರಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠನೇ! ದೇಹಧಾರಿಗಳ ದೇಹದಲ್ಲಿ ಆಶ್ರಯಗೊಂಡಿರುವ ಈ ಸಾಕ್ಷಿಗಳು ನಿತ್ಯವೂ ಅವರ ಕರ್ಮಗಳನ್ನು—ಪುಣ್ಯವೂ ಪಾಪವೂ—ಎರಡನ್ನೂ ನೋಡುತ್ತವೆ.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions are continuously witnessed from within embodied existence; both merit and sin are observed and thus carry inevitable ethical consequence. The verse underscores inbuilt accountability: one cannot truly hide one’s conduct, because the very conditions of embodied life function as constant testimony.
Bhishma is instructing a listener addressed as ‘best of the righteous’ about dharma and karma. He frames moral life as supervised by ever-present internal witnesses associated with the body, setting up a broader teaching on ethical conduct and responsibility.