Shloka 30
Brahma-vidyā: Satya–Tapas and the Enumeration of Tattvas
Arjuna–Vāsudeva framed dialogue
कौ चोभौ कर्मणां मार्गो प्राप्तुयुर्दक्षिणोत्तरी । प्रलयं चापवर्ग च भूतानां प्रभवाप्ययौं
kau cobhau karmaṇāṁ mārgo prāptuyur dakṣiṇottarī | pralayaṁ cāpavargaṁ ca bhūtānāṁ prabhavāpyayau ||
কৰ্মৰ সেই দুটা পথ কোনবোৰ, যাৰ দ্বাৰা দক্ষিণায়ন আৰু উত্তৰায়ন গতি লাভ হয়? প্ৰলয় আৰু অপৱৰ্গ (মোক্ষ) কি? আৰু প্ৰাণীৰ উদ্ভৱ-অপ্যয়—জন্ম আৰু মৃত্যু—কি?
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a doctrinal inquiry: how actions (karma) relate to two post-mortem trajectories symbolized as the southern and northern courses, and how these fit within the larger metaphysical scheme of dissolution (pralaya), liberation (apavarga/mokṣa), and the cycle of arising and passing away (birth and death).
Vāyudeva, as the speaker, poses a set of foundational questions to prompt a systematic explanation: the two karmic paths leading to distinct destinies, the nature of cosmic/individual dissolution, the meaning of liberation, and the principles underlying the birth and death of beings.