Shloka 3
को धर्म: सर्वधर्माणां भवत: परमो मतः । कि जपन् मुच्यते जन्तुर्जन्मसंसारबन्धनात्,आप समस्त धर्मोमें किस धर्मको परम श्रेष्ठ मानते हैं? तथा किसका जप करनेसे जीव जन्म-मरणरूप संसार-बन्धनसे मुक्त हो जाता है?
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | ko dharmaḥ sarvadharmāṇāṃ bhavataḥ paramo mataḥ | kiṃ japan mucyate jantur janma-saṃsāra-bandhanāt ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Of all the forms of dharma, which do you regard as the highest? And by repeating (japa) what does a living being become freed from the bondage of birth and the cycle of worldly existence?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a classical dharma-and-mokṣa inquiry: it asks for the highest guiding principle among all duties and for the liberating practice (japa) that can cut the bondage of repeated birth and worldly entanglement.
Yudhiṣṭhira, seeking authoritative guidance, respectfully questions his interlocutor about the supreme dharma and the specific recitation that leads to freedom from saṃsāra, setting up a teaching on devotion, righteousness, and liberation.