Shloka 23
Doṣa-Parīkṣā and Guṇa-Viveka
Examination of Faults and Discernment of the Guṇas
एवं प्रकृतित: सर्वे प्रवर्तन्ते शरीरिण: । निवर्तन्ते निवृत्तौ च स्वर्ग चैवोपयान्ति च
evaṁ prakṛtitaḥ sarve pravartante śarīriṇaḥ | nivartante nivṛttau ca svargaṁ caivopayānti ca ||
毗湿摩说：如是，一切具身众生皆从普拉克里蒂（物质自然）而生而行；至其时，在溶解（死亡）之际，又复归于彼源。其后，随其福德与罪业之果，或至天界，或堕地狱。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
All beings emerge and function due to Prakriti and return to it at dissolution; after death, their experience of higher or lower worlds is governed by karma—merit and demerit—highlighting ethical responsibility within the natural cycle.
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he explains the general law governing embodied existence: origin from nature, return at death, and subsequent movement to heaven (and implicitly hell) according to one’s deeds.