Shloka 23
प्रजापतयः देवगणाश्च दिशि-दिशि स्थिताः ऋषयः
Prajāpatis, Deva-Groups, and the Ṛṣis Assigned to the Directions
यथा यथा कर्मगुणं फलार्थी करोत्ययं कर्मफले निविष्ट: । तथा तथायं गुणसम्प्रयुक्त: शुभाशुभं॑ कर्मफलं भुनक्ति
yathā yathā karmaguṇaṁ phalārthī karoty ayaṁ karmaphale niviṣṭaḥ | tathā tathāyaṁ guṇasamprayuktaḥ śubhāśubhaṁ karmaphalaṁ bhunakti ||
Bhīṣma nói: “Người cầu quả, chìm trong sự mong đợi quả báo, hễ làm hành động mang phẩm tính nào thì chính do phẩm tính ấy thúc đẩy, người ấy tất yếu thọ nhận quả tương ứng của việc mình làm—hoặc lành hoặc dữ.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions performed with desire for results, shaped by the guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas), inevitably yield corresponding outcomes; one must understand how inner qualities and attachment to fruit govern the experience of auspicious or inauspicious results.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma continues a moral-philosophical discourse on karma: he explains the causal link between the guṇa-driven nature of one’s actions, attachment to their fruits, and the necessity of experiencing the resulting consequences.