Shloka 2
अश्वशिरो-आख्यानम्
Aśvaśiras / Hayaśiras Narrative: Retrieval of the Vedas
कुतो हास्य ध्रुव: स्वर्ग: कुतो नैःश्रेयसं परम् । विधिना केन जुहुयाद् दैवं पित्रयं तथैव च
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | kuto hāsya dhruvaḥ svargaḥ kuto naiḥśreyasaṃ param | vidhinā kena juhuyād daivaṃ pitryaṃ tathaiva ca ||
যুধিষ্ঠির বললেন—মানুষ কীভাবে অক্ষয় স্বর্গ লাভ করতে পারে? কোন উপায়ে পরম কল্যাণ—নৈঃশ্রেয়স—সুলভ হয়? আর কোন বিধানে দেবতা ও পিতৃগণের উদ্দেশ্যে হোম করবে?
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a classic Śānti Parva inquiry: distinguishing between the assured fruit of ritual merit (svarga) and the supreme good (naiḥśreyasa), and asking for the correct, dharma-grounded method of offerings to gods and ancestors—implying that right intention and right procedure matter for both worldly and ultimate aims.
In the instruction-focused setting of the Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira poses a practical and ethical question to his teacher: how an ordinary person can attain lasting heavenly reward, how to reach the highest welfare beyond mere heaven, and what the proper injunctions are for making fire-offerings directed to deities and to the Pitṛs.