Shloka 15
असंतोषादिदोष-निरूपणम्
On the Faults of Discontent and the Discipline of Detachment
पन्थानौ पितृयानश्व देवयानश्व विश्रुतौ । ईजाना: पितृयानेन देवयानेन मोक्षिण:
panthānau pitṛyānaś ca devayānaś ca viśrutau | ījānāḥ pitṛyānena devayānena mokṣiṇaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Two paths are well known—the path of the ancestors (pitṛyāna) and the path of the gods (devayāna). Those who perform sacrificial rites following the ancestral path attain the ancestral course, while those who proceed by the divine path are released—reaching liberation.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes two classical spiritual trajectories: pitṛyāna, linked with sacrificial/ritual merit and the ancestral realm, and devayāna, linked with the higher divine course culminating in liberation (mokṣa). It frames ethical-spiritual choice as a choice of path shaped by one’s practice and aim.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and ultimate good, Yudhiṣṭhira raises a doctrinal point about the well-known ‘two paths’ taught in śāstric tradition, contrasting outcomes for ritual performers and those who follow the divine path toward release.