Shloka 45
Śānti-parva 168: Śoka-nivṛtti-buddhi (The Cognition that Reduces Grief) and Piṅgalā’s Nairāśya
भूतानि जातिस्मरणात्मकानि जराविकारैश्न समन्वितानि । भूयश्व तैस्तै: प्रतिबोधितानि मोक्ष प्रशंसन्ति न तं च विद्य:,जो पूर्वजन्मकी बातोंको स्मरण करनेवाले तथा वृद्धावस्थाके विकारसे मुक्त हैं, वे मनुष्य नाना प्रकारके सांसारिक दुःखोंके उपभोगसे निरन्तर पीड़ित हो मुक्तिकी ही प्रशंसा करते हैं, परंतु हमलोग उस मोक्षके विषयमें जानते ही नहीं
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
bhūtāni jātismaraṇātmakāni jarāvikāraiś ca na samanvitāni |
bhūyaś ca tais tais pratibodhitāni mokṣaṃ praśaṃsanti na taṃ ca vidmaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “There are beings who remember their former births and are not afflicted by the distortions of old age. Repeatedly awakened and instructed by various experiences, they praise liberation alone. But we do not truly know that liberation.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Those who are spiritually awakened—described as remembering past births and being free from the impairments of old age—come to value liberation above worldly experience; Yudhiṣṭhira admits that ordinary people lack clear knowledge of mokṣa and thus need instruction.
In Śānti Parva’s discourse setting, Yudhiṣṭhira raises a reflective question about liberation: he contrasts rare, awakened beings who extol mokṣa with his own uncertainty, preparing the ground for further teaching on the nature and means of liberation.