Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 15
Nārāyaṇa-tejas: Kṛṣṇa’s Vrata, the Fire-Manifestation, and the Sages’ Inquiry (अनुशासन पर्व, अध्याय १२६)
“मनुष्य दान करता हो या न करता हो, वह ऊपरके लोकमें रहता हो या नीचेके लोकमें, जिसे कर्मानुसार जैसा लोक प्राप्त होगा, वह अपने उसी लोकमें जायगा ।।
prāpsyasi tv annapānāni yāni vāñchasi kānicit | medhāvy asi kule jātaḥ śrutavān anṛśaṃsavān ||
毗湿摩说道：“人或施或不施，或居上界或处下界，凡依其业而得之境，必定归往其境。至于你，你将得你所愿的一切饮食；因为你聪慧，出身良族，博学而慈悲——这些德性扶持正法，并招致相称的果报。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
One’s destination (loka) is determined by one’s own actions (karma); merit and ethical qualities such as learning and compassion support favorable outcomes, while each being inevitably reaches the realm earned by conduct.
Bhishma continues his instruction on dharma, emphasizing karmic consequence and reassuring the listener that, due to his virtues—wisdom, good upbringing, learning, and non-cruelty—he will attain the desired enjoyments (food and drink) and an appropriate realm.