Shloka 19
Adhyāya 290: Sāṃkhya-vidhi, Deha-doṣa, Guṇa-vicāra, and Mokṣa-gati
Bhīṣma–Yudhiṣṭhira Dialogue
ततो दुःखक्षयं कृत्वा सुकृतं कर्म सेवते । सुकृतक्षयाच्च दुष्कृतं तद् विद्धि मनुजाधिप
tato duḥkha-kṣayaṁ kṛtvā sukṛtaṁ karma sevate | sukṛta-kṣayāc ca duṣkṛtaṁ tad viddhi manujādhipa ||
Então, tendo esgotado a sua porção de sofrimento, a pessoa passa a dedicar-se a ações meritórias. E quando esse mérito se consome, ela volta a cair no demérito — sabe-o, ó senhor dos homens.
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Parāśara teaches the cyclic operation of karma: when painful results are exhausted one turns toward meritorious conduct, but when accumulated merit is spent, one may again descend into demerit. The verse emphasizes moral causality and the instability of worldly states when driven only by stored karma.
In the Śānti Parva’s instructional discourse, Parāśara addresses a king and explains how beings move through alternating phases of suffering and prosperity according to the depletion of past demerit and merit, framing ethical life within the broader karmic economy.