Shloka 38
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
शतं सहस्त्राणि ततक्ष्रित्वा प्राप्रोति वर्ण हरितं तु पश्चात् स चैव तस्मिन् निवसत्यनीशो युगक्षये तपसा संवृतात्मा
śataṃ sahasrāṇi tatakṣṛtvā prāpnoti varṇaṃ haritaṃ tu paścāt | sa caiva tasmin nivasaty anīśo yugakṣaye tapasā saṃvṛtātmā ||
भीष्म उवाच— शतं सहस्राणि ततः क्लिश्यमानः पश्चाद् हरितं वर्णं प्राप्नोति देही। स तस्मिन्नपि अवस्थानेऽनीशः परवशो महादुःखेन निवसति। युगक्षये तु तपसा संवृतात्मा स तस्मात् संकटाद् विमुच्यते।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions have long-lasting consequences: after prolonged suffering in punitive states, a being may fall into constrained lower births; yet the accumulated force of tapas—understood as austerity and/or ripened past merit and discernment—can eventually protect the self and enable release from danger.
Bhishma describes a post-mortem trajectory: extended torment (interpreted by the tradition as hellish wandering), followed by rebirth in lower, helpless conditions (symbolized by a ‘green’ state), and finally a rescue at the end of an aeon through the protective power of tapas.