Shloka 21
Adhyāya 352: Brāhmaṇa–Nāga Saṃvāda — Uñchavrata-niścaya
Dialogue and the Resolve to Practice Uñchavrata
गन्धर्वैरप्सरोभिश्व सततं संनिषेवितम् । उत्सृज्येमं गिरिवरमेकाकी प्राप्तवानसि
gandharvair apsarobhiś ca satataṁ saṁniṣevitam | utsṛjya imaṁ girivaram ekākī prāptavān asi, kim kāraṇam |
Bhīṣma sprach: „Dieser vortreffliche Berg wird stets von Gandharvas und Apsaras umgeben. Warum also hast du jene höchste Wohnstatt verlassen—frei von Hunger und Durst—wo Götter, Asuras und Weisen von unermesslichem Glanz unablässig bereitstehen, dir zu dienen, und bist hierher allein gekommen?“
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: when someone leaves a blissful, well-served, need-free state for solitude and hardship, the motive must be examined. It highlights that ethical-spiritual choices are judged by intention and purpose, not merely by external comfort or status.
Bhīṣma addresses a solitary arrival on a great mountain, expressing surprise that the person has left a superior abode attended by celestial beings. He asks the reason for this renunciant movement from a privileged, desire-free environment to lonely mountain life.