Shloka 23
प्रजापतयः देवगणाश्च दिशि-दिशि स्थिताः ऋषयः
Prajāpatis, Deva-Groups, and the Ṛṣis Assigned to the Directions
यथा यथा कर्मगुणं फलार्थी करोत्ययं कर्मफले निविष्ट: । तथा तथायं गुणसम्प्रयुक्त: शुभाशुभं॑ कर्मफलं भुनक्ति
yathā yathā karmaguṇaṁ phalārthī karoty ayaṁ karmaphale niviṣṭaḥ | tathā tathāyaṁ guṇasamprayuktaḥ śubhāśubhaṁ karmaphalaṁ bhunakti ||
Bhīṣma disse: “Assim como uma pessoa que busca resultados realiza ações de certa qualidade—absorvida na expectativa de seus frutos—, do mesmo modo, impelida por essas próprias qualidades, ela inevitavelmente experimenta o fruto correspondente de seus feitos, seja auspicioso ou inauspicioso.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions performed with desire for results, shaped by the guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas), inevitably yield corresponding outcomes; one must understand how inner qualities and attachment to fruit govern the experience of auspicious or inauspicious results.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma continues a moral-philosophical discourse on karma: he explains the causal link between the guṇa-driven nature of one’s actions, attachment to their fruits, and the necessity of experiencing the resulting consequences.