Shloka 14
Adhyāya 199: Karma–Jñāna Causality and the Nirguṇa Brahman
Manu’s Instruction
इदं चैवापरं प्राह देवी तत्पियकाम्यया । निरयं नैव याता त्वं यत्र याता द्विजर्षभा:
idaṃ caivāparaṃ prāha devī tatpriyakāmyayā | nirayaṃ naiva yātā tvaṃ yatra yātā dvijarṣabhāḥ ||
त्याचे प्रिय करण्याच्या इच्छेने देवी पुढे म्हणाली—“तू नरकात गेलेला नाहीस; तू तर जिथे श्रेष्ठ ब्राह्मण जातात तिथेच गेला आहेस.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes moral reassurance about posthumous destiny: one’s end is not necessarily a punitive hell, but can be the blessed state attained by the most righteous and spiritually accomplished (here, ‘the foremost Brahmins’), implying the power of merit and right conduct.
Bhīṣma reports a divine utterance: a goddess, intending to please and console, adds that the addressed person has not fallen into hell; instead, they have reached the exalted realm/state associated with the best of the twice-born.