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 ||
কর্মের সেই দুই পথ কোনগুলি, যেগুলির দ্বারা দক্ষিণায়ন ও উত্তরায়ন গতি লাভ হয়? প্রলয় ও অপবর্গ (মোক্ষ) কী? আর প্রাণীদের উৎপত্তি ও লয়—জন্ম ও মৃত্যু—কী?
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.