Shloka 3
Sanatsujāta-Āhvāna (Summoning Sanatsujāta) — Vidura’s Invocation and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Doubt
सनत्युजात उवाच अमृत्यु: कर्मणा केचिन्मृत्युर्नास्तीति चापरे । शृणु मे ब्रुवतो राजन् यथैतन्मा विशड्किथा:
sanatsujāta uvāca | amṛtyuḥ karmaṇā kecin mṛtyur nāstīti cāpare | śṛṇu me bruvato rājan yathaitanmā viśaṅkithāḥ ||
Sanatsujāta sprach: „Einige meinen, der Tod sei wirklich, doch könne er durch disziplinierte Übung überwunden werden; andere erklären, der Tod existiere überhaupt nicht. O König, höre, wie ich die Wahrheit dieser Sache darlege—so wie sie ist—und zweifle nicht an meinen Worten.“
सनत्युजात उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames two philosophical positions—(1) death is real but can be transcended through disciplined practice, and (2) death is ultimately unreal—and promises a reconciliatory explanation. It prepares the listener to move from debate to a clarified understanding of mortality and liberation.
In the Udyoga Parva, Dhṛtarāṣṭra receives instruction from the sage Sanatsujāta. Here Sanatsujāta begins by acknowledging differing doctrines about death and urges the king to listen without doubt as he sets out the matter as he understands it.