Shloka 17
Yoga-kṛtya (योककृत्य) — Vyāsa on Sense-Restraint, Obstacles, and Brahman-Realization
हिंस्राहिंस्रे मृदुक्ूरे धर्माधमावृतानृते । तद्धाविता: प्रपद्यन्ते तस्मात् तत् तस्य रोचते
hiṃsrāhiṃsre mṛdukrūre dharmādharmāvṛtānṛte | taddhāvitāḥ prapadyante tasmāt tat tasya rocate ||
ਹਿੰਸਾ-ਅਹਿੰਸਾ, ਨਰਮੀ-ਕਠੋਰਤਾ, ਧਰਮ-ਅਧਰਮ, ਸੱਚ-ਝੂਠ—ਇਹਨਾਂ ਰੁਝਾਨਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਚਲ ਕੇ ਜੀਵ ਉਹੀ ਰਾਹ ਅਪਣਾਉਂਦੇ ਹਨ; ਇਸ ਲਈ ਜਿਸ ਨੇ ਜਿਹੋ ਜਿਹਾ ਸੰਸਕਾਰ ਪਾਲਿਆ, ਉਹੀ ਉਸਨੂੰ ਭਾਉਂਦਾ ਹੈ।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Repeated choices create deep impressions (saṃskāras) that shape one’s likes, character, and conduct; thus a person naturally gravitates toward the same moral patterns—violence or non-violence, truth or falsehood—even across births.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and inner discipline, Vyāsa states a general principle of ethical causality: cultivated dispositions drive future behavior, explaining why people persist in certain virtues or vices.