Shloka 109
नारद–शुक संवादः
Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga
एतन्मया<5<प्तं जनकात् पुरस्तात् तेनापि चाप्तं नृप याज्ञवल्क्यात् । ज्ञानं विशिष्ट न तथा हि यज्ञा ज्ञानेन दुर्ग तरते न यज्ञै:
etan mayā prāptaṃ janakāt purastāt tenāpi cāptaṃ nṛpa yājñavalkyāt | jñānaṃ viśiṣṭaṃ na tathā hi yajñā jñānena durgaṃ tarate na yajñaiḥ yudhiṣṭhira ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Diese Lehre habe ich einst von König Janaka empfangen; und er, o König, hatte sie von Yājñavalkya erhalten. Erkenntnis ist das höchste Mittel; Opferhandlungen sind ihr nicht ebenbürtig. Durch Erkenntnis überquert man den schwer zu überquerenden Ozean des weltlichen Daseins — nicht durch Opfer.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma asserts the primacy of jñāna (spiritual knowledge) over yajña (ritual sacrifice): liberation from saṃsāra is achieved through insight and realization, not merely through ritual action, however meritorious.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīṣma cites a lineage of transmission—Yājñavalkya to King Janaka to himself—to authorize the teaching, then emphasizes that this inherited wisdom places knowledge above sacrificial rites as the means to cross the difficult worldly ocean.