Shloka 40
अध्याय १६ — शङ्कर-उमा-वरदानम् तथा तण्डि-स्तुतिः (Śaṅkara–Umā Boon-Granting and Taṇḍi’s Hymn)
य॑ ज्ञात्वा न पुनर्जन्म मरणं चापि विद्यते । यं विदित्वा पर वेद्यं वेदितव्यं न विद्यते
yaṁ jñātvā na punarjanma maraṇaṁ cāpi vidyate | yaṁ viditvā para-vedyaṁ veditavyaṁ na vidyate |
Vāyu sprach: „Wer Ihn erkennt, kehrt nicht mehr zur Geburt zurück, und selbst der Tod ist keine bindende Wirklichkeit mehr. Hat man Ihn verwirklicht, bleibt nichts Höheres zu erkennen; kein höchster Gegenstand des Wissens bleibt übrig.“
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the Mahābhārata’s liberation doctrine: realization of the supreme principle ends saṁsāra—there is no further compulsion of rebirth and death—and it is the final, unsurpassed knowledge beyond which nothing higher remains to be sought.
Vāyu is speaking in a didactic passage, praising the supreme reality as the ultimate object of knowledge. The statement functions as a climax of instruction: it identifies the goal that sages seek and frames it as the decisive knowledge that frees one from all cyclical bondage.