Shloka 15
अध्याय १७८ — प्राणवायुगतिः तथा शारीराग्निव्यवस्था
Adhyāya 178 — The courses of prāṇa-vāyu and the regulation of the bodily fire
अहो सम्यक् शुकेनोक्तं सर्वतः परिमुच्यता । प्रतिष्ठता महारण्यं जनकस्य निवेशनात्,“अहा! शुकदेव मुनिने जनकके राजमहलसे विशाल वनकी ओर जाते समय सब ओरसे बन्धनमुक्त हो क्या ही अच्छा कहा था?
aho samyak śukenoktaṃ sarvataḥ parimucyatā | pratiṣṭhatā mahāraṇyaṃ janakasya niveśanāt ||
Bhīṣma said: “Ah! How perfectly Śuka spoke: ‘Be freed from bondage on every side.’ As he set out from King Janaka’s royal residence toward the great forest, his words captured the true path—renunciation that loosens attachment in all directions, not merely a change of place.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True freedom is ‘release from every side’—cutting attachment and bondage in all respects. The verse praises Śuka’s counsel as pointing to inner renunciation, where liberation is defined by non-attachment rather than merely leaving a place.
Bhīṣma recalls and commends Śuka’s statement made in connection with departing from King Janaka’s residence toward the great forest. The moment contrasts royal life and the forest-ascetic path, using the departure as a setting to emphasize complete detachment.