Shloka 2
मातापितृगुरुपूजा-प्रशंसा
Praise of Venerating Mother, Father, and Teacher
कि कार्य सर्वधर्माणां गरीयो भवतो मतम् । यथाहं परम धर्ममिह च प्रेत्य चाप्तुयाम्,सब धर्मोमें कौन-सा कार्य आपको श्रेष्ठ जान पड़ता है, जिसका अनुष्ठान करके मैं इहलोक और परलोकमें भी परम धर्मका फल प्राप्त कर सकूँ?
kiṁ kāryaṁ sarva-dharmāṇāṁ garīyo bhavato matam | yathāhaṁ paramaṁ dharmam iha ca pretya cāptuyām ||
Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „Unter allen Pflichten: Welche Handlungsweise hältst du für die gewichtigste und beste? Wie kann ich, indem ich sie vollbringe, die höchste Frucht des Dharma erlangen — in dieser Welt wie auch nach dem Tod?“
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a foundational ethical inquiry: among many competing duties (dharma), one should seek the most authoritative and beneficial course of action—one that yields the highest good both in worldly life and beyond death.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction setting, Yudhiṣṭhira, burdened by moral doubt after the war, asks a revered authority to identify the most important duty and the practice by which he can attain the supreme fruit of dharma in this life and the next.