Shloka 12
Śvetadvīpa-varṇana and Śāstra-pravartana (Śānti Parva 322)
अचोटद्यमानानि यथा पुष्पाणि च फलानि च । स्वं काल॑ नातिवर्तन्ते तथा कर्म पुरा कृतम्
acoṭadyamānāni yathā puṣpāṇi ca phalāni ca | svaṃ kālaṃ nātivartante tathā karma purā kṛtam ||
毗湿摩说：“正如花与果不待催逼，自在于其时节在树上显现；往昔所作之业亦不逾越其应当结果的定时。业果成熟，必在其适当之刻不可避免地到来。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Karma ripens according to its own proper time: past actions inevitably yield results when the conditions and season are ready, just as a tree naturally produces flowers and fruits in due season without external coercion.
In the instruction-heavy Shanti Parva, Bhishma is teaching about dharma and the workings of moral causality. Here he uses a natural analogy—seasonal flowering and fruiting—to explain that the fruition of previously performed actions cannot be hastened or avoided beyond its destined time.