Shloka 10

Devanagari script

कर्म तत्‌ कुरुते तर्षादहंकारपरिग्रहात्‌ । कार्यकारणसंयोगे स हेतुरुपपादित:,जीव अहंकारके अधीन होकर तृष्णाके कारण कर्म करता है और वह कर्म आगामी कार्य-कारण-संयोगमें हेतु बन जाता है

Transliteration

karma tat kurute tarṣād ahaṅkāra-parigrahāt | kārya-kāraṇa-saṃyoge sa hetur upapāditaḥ ||

Translation

ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു—തൃഷ്ണയാൽ പ്രേരിതനായി, അഹങ്കാരത്തിന്റെ അധീനനായ ജീവൻ കർമം ചെയ്യുന്നു. ആ കർമം തന്നെയാണ് കാരണ-കാര്യബന്ധത്തിന്റെ ശൃംഖലയിൽ വീണ്ടും കാരണരൂപമായി സ്ഥാപിതമാകുന്നത്.

Word by Word

कर्मaction, deed

तत्that

कुरुतेdoes, performs

तृष्णात्from craving; due to craving

अहंकार-परिग्रहात्from the appropriation/acceptance of egoism

कार्य-कारण-संयोगेin the conjunction/connection of effect and cause

सःhe/that (it)

हेतुःcause, reason

उपपादितःis established/produced; is shown to be

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

jīva (the living being)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Actions arise from craving and ego-identification, and those actions themselves become causes that generate further effects—thus sustaining the cycle of karmic causality and bondage.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he explains to the listener how the jīva, dominated by ahaṅkāra and desire, acts—and how such action becomes a causal link in the ongoing chain of future consequences.