Shloka 14
देवतापितृप्रश्नः — Nārada at Badarīāśrama: the ultimate referent of daiva and pitṛ worship
आद्यकालिकया बुद्धया दूरे श्व इति निर्भया: । सर्वभक्ष्या न पश्यन्ति कर्मभूमिमचेतस:
ādyakālikayā buddhyā dūre śva iti nirbhayāḥ | sarvabhakṣyā na paśyanti karmabhūmim acetasaḥ ||
आद्यकालिकया बुद्ध्या वर्तमानसुखपरायणा ये, भाविफलानि दूरे श्व इति मन्यमानाः निर्भयाः सन्तः सर्वभक्ष्याण्यपि भुञ्जते; तेऽचेतसः कर्मभूमेर्महत्त्वं न पश्यन्ति।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Heedless people, focused only on immediate pleasure, treat consequences as distant and therefore act without restraint; such lack of discernment prevents them from recognizing human life as a karmabhūmi—an arena where actions have moral weight and inevitable results.
In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa is describing a type of person whose present-centered thinking leads to fearlessness born of negligence, indulgence in improper consumption, and blindness to the ethical seriousness of action and its fruits.