Shloka 4
आदि पर्व, अध्याय 104 — कर्णोत्पत्ति, दानधर्म, वैकर्तन-नामकरण
Karna’s Birth, Gift-Ethic, and the Name Vaikartana
यथा कर्म शुभं॑ कृत्वा स्वर्गोपगमन ध्रुवम् । यथा चायुर्धुवं सत्ये त्वयि धर्मस्तथा ध्रुव:,'जैसे शुभ कर्म करके स्वर्गलोकमें जाना निश्चित है, जैसे सत्य बोलनेसे आयुका बढ़ना अवश्यम्भावी है, वैसे ही तुममें धर्मका होना भी निश्चित है
vaiśampāyana uvāca | yathā karma śubhaṁ kṛtvā svargopagamanaṁ dhruvam | yathā cāyur dhruvaṁ satye tvayi dharmas tathā dhruvaḥ ||
«Как несомненно восхождение на небеса после совершения благих деяний; как несомненно, по убеждению людей, продление жизни через правдивость, — так же несомненно пребывание дхармы в тебе.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts a moral certainty: just as meritorious action reliably yields heavenly attainment and truthfulness is traditionally linked with the strengthening of life, so the person addressed is affirmed to be firmly established in dharma.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, offers a commendatory statement to someone being addressed, using two well-known ethical cause-and-effect examples (puṇya leading to svarga, satya supporting longevity) to certify that dharma is surely present in that person.