Shloka 2
Brāhmaṇa-vandana: Criteria for Veneration, Disciplined Speech, and Protective Kingship (अनुशासनपर्व, अध्याय ८)
उत्तमापद्गतस्यापि यत्र ते वर्तते मन: । मनुष्यलोके सर्वस्मिन् यदमुत्रेह चाप्युत
uttamāpadgatasya api yatra te vartate manaḥ | manuṣyaloke sarvasmin yad amutra iha ca apy uta ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Even when one is overtaken by the gravest calamity, whom does your mind never cease to remember? And in this entire human world—and likewise in the hereafter—what is truly beneficial? Please tell me all this.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: in extreme adversity, the most reliable refuge is the object of unwavering remembrance, and true welfare must be assessed across both this life and the hereafter—i.e., by enduring ethical and spiritual benefit rather than momentary gain.
Yudhiṣṭhira, seeking guidance on dharma, asks a revered interlocutor to explain (1) whom one should keep in mind even in the worst crisis and (2) what constitutes genuine good for humans both in this world and beyond.