Shloka 15

असंतोषादिदोष-निरूपणम्

On the Faults of Discontent and the Discipline of Detachment

Devanagari script

पन्थानौ पितृयानश्व देवयानश्व विश्रुतौ । ईजाना: पितृयानेन देवयानेन मोक्षिण:

Transliteration

panthānau pitṛyānaś ca devayānaś ca viśrutau | ījānāḥ pitṛyānena devayānena mokṣiṇaḥ ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „Zwei Wege sind weithin bekannt — der Weg der Ahnen (pitṛyāna) und der Weg der Götter (devayāna). Wer Opferhandlungen nach dem Ahnenweg vollzieht, gelangt auf den Lauf der Ahnen; wer aber den göttlichen Weg beschreitet, wird befreit und erreicht die Erlösung.“

Word by Word

पन्थानौtwo paths

पितृयानःthe path of the Pitṛs (ancestral path)

चand

देवयानःthe path of the gods (divine path)

चand

विश्रुतौwell-known, renowned

ईजानाःworshipping / sacrificing

पितृयानेनby/through the ancestral path

देवयानेनby/through the divine path

मोक्षिणःseekers of liberation / those aiming at mokṣa

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

pitṛyāna

devayāna

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse distinguishes two classical spiritual trajectories: pitṛyāna, linked with sacrificial/ritual merit and the ancestral realm, and devayāna, linked with the higher divine course culminating in liberation (mokṣa). It frames ethical-spiritual choice as a choice of path shaped by one’s practice and aim.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and ultimate good, Yudhiṣṭhira raises a doctrinal point about the well-known ‘two paths’ taught in śāstric tradition, contrasting outcomes for ritual performers and those who follow the divine path toward release.