Shloka 1
Gautama–Śakra Saṃvāda: Karma, Loka-bheda, and the Restoration of the Elephant
(दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठका १ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल ३० श्लोक हैं) हि ही बक। हि मा 3 द्र्याधेकशततमो< ध्याय: भिन्न-भिन्न कर्मोके अनुसार भिन्न-भिन्न लोकोंकी प्राप्ति बतानेके लिये धृतराष्ट्ररूपधारी इन्द्र और गौतम ब्राह्मणके संवादका उल्लेख युधिछिर उवाच एके लोका: सुकृतिन: सर्वे त्वाहो पितामह । तत्र तत्रापि भिन्नास्ते तन्मे ब्रूहि पितामह
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | eke lokāḥ sukṛtinaḥ sarve tv āho pitāmaha | tatra tatrāpi bhinnās te tan me brūhi pitāmaha ||
Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „Großvater, gelangen alle, die verdienstvolle Taten vollbracht haben, nach dem Tod in ein und dieselbe Welt, oder gibt es auch unter diesen Welten Unterschiede? Erkläre es mir, o Pitāmaha.“
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: merit (sukṛta/puṇya) is not treated as a single uniform category; Yudhiṣṭhira asks whether post-mortem destinations (lokas) vary according to the kind and quality of one’s actions, preparing for a nuanced account of karma and its differentiated results.
During Bhīṣma’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira in the Anuśāsana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira respectfully questions his ‘grandfather’ about the fate of the virtuous after death—whether all go to one realm or whether there are multiple, distinct realms corresponding to different merits.