Results Of Good Karma

What are the results of good karma?

When Yudhishthira asked this question, Bhishmacharya, lying on his bed of arrows yet radiating the fire of wisdom, replied with clarity that could silence doubts like a still lake absorbs ripples.

Every karma bears fruit.

Not just any fruit, but a precise one.
Tailored to how it was done — when, with what intent, with what part of you.

• If you help someone with your body, your next birth brings comfort to your body.

• If you do good with your words, like chanting the Vishnu Sahasranama, your future will echo with sweet words and praise.

• If your karma is born from a pure mind, it blossoms into inner peace and mental joy in the births to come.

But even more fascinating — karma ripens with time.

• Good deeds done in youth bring results in youth.

• Those done in old age — ripen in your old age.

• Your karma knows the clock. It arrives exactly when it's due.

Bhishma’s example is simple, yet profound:

If an atithi — a guest — comes home,
Serve him not just with food, but with your entire being.

• Greet him with kind eyes,

• Speak with gentle words,

• Offer food with attention,

• Stay undistracted — not with your phone in hand or mind elsewhere,

• And when he leaves, walk with him a little distance.

Such dedicated hospitality, Bhishma says, is equal to performing a yajna.

Because Atithidevo Bhava is not just a slogan —
In Sanatana Dharma, the guest is not king — he is God.

Now listen closely to what he says about sacrifice:

• The one who gives up a soft bed and sleeps on the floor — gets a luxurious bed in the next birth.

• The one who gives up rich clothes, and wears simple garments — will never lack fine clothes again.

• The one who surrenders their craving for taste — earns sowbhagya, lasting prosperity.

• The one who renounces non-veg food — gains wealth and children.

This is not barter. This is cosmic investment.

Just like saving for the future — when you give up now, life stores it.
It comes back to you, stronger, purer, and at the right time.

Bhishma goes further:

• If you learn to go beyond dualities — good and bad, friend and foe — you gain the fruits of yoga, and are reborn in comfort, with vehicles that serve your journey.
  (Though, by then, you may no longer care for vehicles — because you will have outgrown craving.)

• Worship Agni — the god of fire — and you're reborn with valor, radiance, and heroic energy.

• Observe brahmacharya and intense yogic discipline — and in your next birth, your desires will fulfill themselves.

In short:

• What you offer now returns as blessings later.

• What you renounce now becomes your strength later.

• What you do with full heart and clean mind becomes your crown in the lives to come.

Bhishma does not ask us to wait idly for fate.
He shows how every small act — a kind word, a shared meal, a silent renunciation — becomes an eternal seed, growing in places beyond our sight.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi