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 ||
毗湿摩说道：“在经受如被斧斫般的苦楚，历经数十万次（或数十万年）之后，有身之众生随后得‘青绿之相’——这象征其堕入畜生、飞禽等下劣生类。即便在那种境况中，他亦无力自主，受制而住于大苦。然当一劫将尽之时，他的内在自性因‘苦行力’（tapas：苦行之威，或古老福德与明辨成熟之果）而得护持、得安定，遂从那险厄中被救拔。”
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.