Shloka 9

दैव–पुरुषकार-प्रश्नः

Daiva–Puruṣakāra Inquiry: Fate and Human Effort

Devanagari script

कर्मण: फलनिर्वत्ति स्वयमश्नाति कारक: । प्रत्यक्ष दृश्यते लोके कृतस्यापकृतस्य च,कर्म करनेवाला मनुष्य अपने भले या बुरे कर्मका फल स्वयं ही भोगता है। यह बात संसारमें प्रत्यक्ष दिखायी देती है

Transliteration

karmaṇaḥ phalanirvṛttiḥ svayam aśnāti kārakaḥ | pratyakṣaṃ dṛśyate loke kṛtasyākṛtasya ca ||

Translation

ผลแห่งกรรมเมื่อสุกงอม ผู้กระทำย่อมเสวยเอง โลกนี้เห็นได้โดยประจักษ์—ทั้งในผลของสิ่งที่ได้ทำ และของสิ่งที่มิได้ทำ

Word by Word

कर्मणःof action/karma

फलनिर्वृत्तिंthe production/result (fruit) (of karma)

स्वयम्oneself

अश्नातिeats/experiences (enjoys or suffers)

कारकःthe doer/agent

प्रत्यक्षम्directly, manifestly

दृश्यतेis seen/appears

लोकेin the world

कृतस्यof what is done

अकृतस्यof what is not done

चand

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Moral causality is personal: the agent who acts (or fails to act) inevitably experiences the corresponding consequences; karma bears fruit for the doer.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma, he emphasizes a universally observable principle: outcomes arise from deeds and also from omissions, and the responsibility for those outcomes rests with the doer.