Shloka 23
कर्मनाशाभावः, गर्भे जीवप्रवेशः, आचारधर्मोपदेशः
Karma’s Non-Extinction, Jīva’s Entry into the Embryo, and Instruction on Conduct-Dharma
जो धर्मके अनुसार बर्ताव करता है, वह जहाँ जिस अवस्थामें हो, वहाँ उसी स्थितिमें उसको अपने कर्मानुसार उत्तम फलकी प्राप्ति होती है और वह धीरे-धीरे अधिक काल बीतनेपर संसार-सागरसे तर जाता है ।।
evaṁ pūrvakṛtaṁ karma nityaṁ jantuḥ prapadyate | sarvaṁ tatkāraṇaṁ yena vikṛto ’yam ihāgataḥ ||
Ang namumuhay ayon sa dharma, saan man at sa anumang kalagayan, sa kalagayang iyon din tumatanggap ng mabuting bunga ayon sa kanyang karma; at unti-unti, sa paglipas ng mahabang panahon, nakakatawid siya sa dagat ng samsara. Kaya’t ang nilalang ay patuloy na sumasalubong sa bunga ng mga gawa noong nakaraan. Tunay na ang karma ang sanhi kung bakit ang sarili—bagaman sa katotohanan ay ang di-nagbabagong Brahman—tila nagiging nagbabago at dumarating upang isilang sa mundong ito, dumaranas ayon sa kanyang mga gawa.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Past actions (pūrvakṛta karma) inevitably bear fruit: the embodied being repeatedly meets their results. Even though the self is, in essence, changeless Brahman, embodiment and worldly experience are explained as arising due to karma—karma is presented as the operative cause for birth and the seeming transformation.
A Brahmin speaker delivers a doctrinal explanation within the Ashvamedhika Parva, emphasizing moral causality: beings experience outcomes shaped by prior deeds, and the cycle of birth in the world is linked to karma, despite the self’s ultimate unchanging nature.