Shloka 1

कर्मनाशाभावः, गर्भे जीवप्रवेशः, आचारधर्मोपदेशः

Karma’s Non-Extinction, Jīva’s Entry into the Embryo, and Instruction on Conduct-Dharma

Devanagari script

भीकम (2 अमान अष्टादशो< ध्याय: जीवके गर्भ-प्रवेश

Transliteration

brāhmaṇa uvāca | śubhānām aśubhānāṁ ca neha nāśo 'sti karmaṇām | prāpya prāpyānupacyante kṣetre kṣetre tathā tathā ||

Translation

Vị Bà-la-môn nói: “Hỡi Kāśyapa, trong đời này, các nghiệp đã làm—dù thiện hay bất thiện—không thể tiêu mất nếu chưa được thọ nhận. Hết lần này đến lần khác, chúng chín muồi, trổ quả từ ‘thửa ruộng’ này sang ‘thửa ruộng’ khác, đúng theo cách tương ứng.”

Word by Word

• शुभानाम्: of good (deeds)
• शुभानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुभ
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• अशुभानाम्: of bad (deeds)
• अशुभानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अशुभ
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• इह: here (in this world)
• इह: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• नाशः: destruction; cessation
• नाशः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाश
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अस्ति: is
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (अस्ति)
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• कर्मणाम्: of actions (karmas)
• कर्मणाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• प्राप्य: having attained; having reached
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-आप्
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Active (sense)

• प्राप्यान्: attained (ones); reached (states/bodies)
• प्राप्यान्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-आप्
• Form: क्त (past passive participle used adjectivally), Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• उपच्यन्ते: are experienced/undergone; come to fruition
• Type: Verb
• Root: उप-चि (चिनोति/चिनुते; here in passive sense 'to accumulate/undergo')
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Ātmanepada/Passive sense

• क्षेत्रे: in a field (i.e., in a body/realm)
• क्षेत्रे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षेत्र
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• क्षेत्रे: in (another) field
• क्षेत्रे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षेत्र
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• तथा: thus; in that manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• तथा: again, likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (Brahmin speaker)
• काश्यप (Kāśyapa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Actions (karma), whether good or bad, inevitably mature into results (phala). They do not vanish on their own; rather, they bear fruit across successive embodiments or life-situations, in a manner consistent with the nature of the deed.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Brahmin addresses Kāśyapa and begins an instruction on moral causality: the inevitability of karmic fruition, implying that one’s experiences across different ‘fields’ (bodies/contexts) are shaped by prior deeds.