Shloka 6
Sanatsujāta-Āhvāna (Summoning Sanatsujāta) — Vidura’s Invocation and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Doubt
यम॑ त्वेके मृत्युमतो<न्यमाहु- रात्मावसन्नममृतं ब्रह्मचर्यम् । पितृलोके राज्यमनुशास्ति देव: शिव: शिवानामशिवो5शिवानाम्
yamaṁ tv eke mṛtyum ato 'nyam āhur ātmāvasannam amṛtaṁ brahmacaryam | pitṛloke rājyam anuśāsti devaḥ śivaḥ śivānām aśivo 'śivānām ||
„Einige sagen, dieser ‘Yama’, verschieden von der Unachtsamkeit, sei nichts anderes als der Tod; andere sagen, dass Brahmacarya—Selbstzucht und Enthaltsamkeit, im Herzen fest bewahrt—die Unsterblichkeit selbst sei. Der Gott Yama herrscht und verwaltet das Reich der Ahnen; den Tugendhaften ist er günstig, den Bösen ungünstig.“
सनत्युजात उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts two understandings: Yama as ‘Death’ versus brahmacarya (deep, inwardly grounded self-restraint) as ‘immortality.’ It frames ethical discipline as a path to deathlessness in a spiritual sense, while also affirming Yama’s role as moral governor who is auspicious to the righteous and adverse to the unrighteous.
In the Sanatsujātīya section of the Udyoga Parva, Sanatsujāta instructs Dhṛtarāṣṭra on profound ethical and spiritual matters. Here he clarifies popular views about Yama and emphasizes brahmacarya as a transformative discipline, while describing Yama’s governance of Pitṛloka and his differing relation to the virtuous and the sinful.