Shloka 2
Adhyāya 222 — ब्रह्मस्थानप्राप्ति: मोक्षधर्मे समत्वव्रतम्
Attaining the Brahman-Station: The Vow of Equanimity in Mokṣadharma
कर्तास्ति तस्य पुरुष उताहो नेति संशय: । एतदिच्छामि तत्त्वेन त्वत्त: श्रोतुं पितामह,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--भारत! इस लोकमें जो यह शुभ अथवा अशुभ कर्म होता है, वह पुरुषको उसके सुख-दुःखरूप फल भोगनेमें लगा ही देता है; परंतु पुरुष उस कर्मका कर्ता है या नहीं, इस विषयमें मुझे संदेह है; अतः पितामह! मैं आपके द्वारा इसका तत्त्वयुक्त समाधान सुनना चाहता हूँ
kartāsti tasya puruṣa utāho neti saṁśayaḥ | etad icchāmi tattvena tvattaḥ śrotuṁ pitāmaha ||
Yudhiṣṭhira disse: “Tenho dúvida se o homem é de fato o autor de seus atos ou não. Avô, desejo ouvir de ti a verdade sobre isto: como as ações, sejam auspiciosas ou inauspiciosas, passam a prender o homem à experiência do prazer e da dor, e que grau de agência o si-mesmo realmente possui nesse processo.”
युधिष्ठिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a central ethical-philosophical problem: if actions lead to pleasurable or painful results, is the individual self truly the agent (kartā), or is agency attributable to other factors (nature, fate, guṇas, or the cosmic order)? Yudhiṣṭhira asks for a truth-based clarification that can ground responsibility and liberation-oriented understanding.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction setting, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Bhīṣma as ‘Pitāmaha’ and raises a doubt about doership. He requests Bhīṣma’s authoritative explanation of how auspicious and inauspicious deeds connect a person to the experience of happiness and sorrow, and whether the person is genuinely the doer.