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 ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Pagkaraang ‘maputol’—ibig sabihin, magdaan sa pagdurusa—nang daan-daang libong ulit (o taon), ang nilalang na may katawan ay kalauna’y nagkakamit ng mapusyaw na luntiang anyo, hudyat ng pagpasok sa mabababang kapanganakan gaya ng hayop at ibon. Sa kalagayang iyon, wala siyang magawa at napipilitang manahan sa matinding paghihirap. Ngunit pagdating ng wakas ng yugto ng panahon, ang kanyang kaloob-looban—na pinangangalagaan at pinatatatag ng tapas (lakas ng pag-aayuno at pagninilay, o paghinog ng sinaunang kabutihan at pag-unawa)—ay naililigtas mula sa panganib na iyon.”
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.