Shloka 3
Aśoka-śāstra: Nārada’s Instruction on the Cessation of Śoka
Grief
जिसके प्राण दोनों पिण्डलियोंके मार्गसे बाहर निकलते हैं, वह वसु नामक देवताओंके लोकमें जाता है; ऐसा हमने सुन रक्खा है। घुटनोंसे प्राणत्याग करनेपर महाभाग साध्य-देवताओंके लोकोंकी प्राप्ति होती है ।।
pāyunotkramamāṇas tu maitraṃ sthānam avāpnuyāt | pṛthivīṃ jaghanenātha ūrubhyāṃ ca prajāpatiṃ ||
قال ياجنَفَلكيا: «إن خرج نَفَسُ الحياة من الدُّبُر بلغَ عالمَ مِترا. وإن خرج من الأليتين وصلَ إلى عالمِ الأرض؛ وإن خرج من الفخذين نالَ عالمَ براجابَتي.»
याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the departure-route of prāṇa at death is linked to specific post-mortem destinations (realms of Mitra, Earth, and Prajāpati), implying that inner discipline and the condition of one’s life-force at death have moral and spiritual consequences.
In a didactic discourse within Śānti Parva, the sage Yājñavalkya explains a traditional mapping between bodily exit-points of the life-breath and the cosmic realms attained after death, continuing a broader discussion on death, destiny, and spiritual attainment.