Shloka 1
मनस्–बुद्धि–गुणविचारः (Manas–Buddhi–Guṇa Inquiry) — Meditation and Nirguṇa Realization
इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत शान्तिपर्वके अन्तर्गत मोक्षधर्मपर्वमें जापकका उपाख्यानविषयक एक सौ सत्तानबेवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ ॥/ १९७ ॥। ऑपन--मा_जल बछ। -स:िॉ - इस प्रकरणमें पुनर्जन्मको ही नरकके नामसे कहा गया है। यह बात छठे और सातवें श्लोकके वर्णनसे स्पष्ट हो जाती है। अष्टनवर्त्याधेकशततमोब् ध्याय: परमधामके अधिकारी जापकके लिये देवलोक भी नरक-तुल्य हैं--इसका प्रतिपादन युधिषछ्िर उवाच कीदृशं निरयं याति जापको वर्णयस्व मे । कौतूहलं हि राजन् मे तद् भवान् वक्तुमहति,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--दादाजी! जप करनेवालेको उसके दोषोंके कारण किस तरहके नरककी प्राप्ति होती है? उसका मुझसे वर्णन कीजिये। राजन्! उसे जाननेके लिये मेरे मनमें बड़ा कौतूहल हो रहा है; अतः: आप अवश्य बतावें
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | kīdṛśaṃ nirayaṃ yāti jāpako varṇayasva me | kautūhalaṃ hi rājan me tad bhavān vaktum arhati ||
Thus ends the one-hundred-and-ninety-seventh chapter, concerning the episode of Jāpaka, in the Mokṣa-dharma section within the Śānti Parva of the Śrī Mahābhārata. Yudhiṣṭhira said: “What kind of hell does a practitioner of japa fall into when tainted by faults? Please describe it to me. Venerable grandsire, my mind is filled with curiosity to understand this; therefore you are indeed fit to explain it.”
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even spiritually valued practices like japa are ethically accountable: when performed with defects or wrongdoing, they can lead to painful consequences. The verse frames a moral inquiry into how intention and conduct condition the fruit of religious practice.
At the start of the chapter, Yudhiṣṭhira respectfully questions the elder king (the speaker addressed as ‘rājan’) about the specific ‘hell’ or suffering-state that a japa-practitioner may reach due to faults, asking for a detailed explanation.