Shloka 38
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
शतं सहस्त्राणि ततक्ष्रित्वा प्राप्रोति वर्ण हरितं तु पश्चात् स चैव तस्मिन् निवसत्यनीशो युगक्षये तपसा संवृतात्मा
śataṃ sahasrāṇi tatakṣṛtvā prāpnoti varṇaṃ haritaṃ tu paścāt | sa caiva tasmin nivasaty anīśo yugakṣaye tapasā saṃvṛtātmā ||
भीष्म म्हणाले— त्यानंतर देही जीव लाखो वेळा (किंवा लाखो वर्षे) क्लेश भोगून पुढे हरितवर्ण प्राप्त करतो—म्हणजे पशु-पक्षी इत्यादी नीच योन्यांत प्रवेश करतो. त्या अवस्थेतही तो परवश होऊन मोठ्या दुःखाने राहतो. पण युगाच्या शेवटी तपाच्या प्रभावाने—अंतःकरण स्थिर व संरक्षित होऊन—तो त्या संकटातून मुक्त होतो.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions have long-lasting consequences: after prolonged suffering in punitive states, a being may fall into constrained lower births; yet the accumulated force of tapas—understood as austerity and/or ripened past merit and discernment—can eventually protect the self and enable release from danger.
Bhishma describes a post-mortem trajectory: extended torment (interpreted by the tradition as hellish wandering), followed by rebirth in lower, helpless conditions (symbolized by a ‘green’ state), and finally a rescue at the end of an aeon through the protective power of tapas.