Shloka 3
कथं सृष्टानि भूतानि कथ॑ं वर्णविभक्तय: । शौचाशौचं कथं तेषां धर्माधर्मविधि: कथम्,प्राणियोंकी सृष्टि किस प्रकार हुई? वर्णोका विभाग किस तरह किया गया? उनमें शौच और अशौचकी व्यवस्था कैसे हुई? तथा धर्म और अधर्मका विधान किस प्रकार किया गया?
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | kathaṃ sṛṣṭāni bhūtāni kathaṃ varṇa-vibhaktayaḥ | śaucāśaucaṃ kathaṃ teṣāṃ dharmādharmavidhiḥ katham |
Yudhiṣṭhira asked: “How were living beings brought into existence? How was the division into social orders (varṇas) established? How were purity and impurity determined among them? And how were the ordinances of dharma and adharma laid down?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a foundational ethical inquiry: dharma is not treated as mere custom but as something whose origins, classifications (including varṇa), and purity rules require principled explanation. It sets up a discussion on how moral and social order is grounded in creation and injunction (vidhi).
In the Śānti Parva dialogue, Yudhiṣṭhira asks an elder authority to explain the origins of beings, the establishment of varṇa divisions, the rationale of purity/impurity regulations, and how dharma versus adharma is authoritatively defined.