Shloka 40
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
स तत्र संहारविसर्गमेक॑ स्वधर्मजैर्बन्धनै: क्लिश्यमान: । ततः स हारिद्रमुपैति वर्ण संहारविक्षेपशते व्यतीते
sa tatra saṁhāra-visargam ekaṁ svadharma-jair bandhanaiḥ kliśyamānaḥ | tataḥ sa hāridram upaiti varṇaṁ saṁhāra-vikṣepa-śate vyatīte ||
तत्र स देही संहारविसर्गयोरेकं चक्रं स्वधर्मजैर्बन्धनैः क्लिश्यमानः परिभ्रमति। ततः संहारविक्षेपशते व्यतीते स हारिद्रं वर्णमुपैति।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even what is called one’s own dharma can become a binding force when it hardens into attachment and karmic compulsion; the being is carried through repeated cycles of dissolution and re-manifestation until a further qualitative transformation is reached.
Bhīṣma describes a metaphysical process: an individual being, afflicted by bonds arising from its own nature and duties, passes through repeated alternations of cosmic withdrawal (saṁhāra) and projection (visarga/vikṣepa), and after many such cycles attains a distinct ‘hāridra’ state.