Shloka 1
Adhyāya 199: Karma–Jñāna Causality and the Nirguṇa Brahman
Manu’s Instruction
भजन आर (2) अजमनन- ३-श्रुति भी कहती है--'अशरीरं वावसन्तं न प्रियाप्रिये स््पृशत: ।/ २-आठ पुरियोंका बोधक वचन इस प्रकार उपलब्ध होता है-- भूतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिवासनाकर्मवायवः । अविद्या चेत्यमुं वर्गमाहु: पुर्यष्टक॑ बुधा: ।।
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | kim uttaraṁ tadā tau sama cakratus tasya bhāṣite | brāhmaṇo vāthavā rājā tan me brūhi pitāmaha ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “When his words had been spoken, what reply did those two then make together—whether the Brāhmaṇa or the king? Grandfather, please tell me that.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames ethical inquiry as careful listening to wise discourse and seeking the consequential response: Yudhiṣṭhira asks Bhīṣma to report how both a Brāhmaṇa and a king respond after hearing a teaching, highlighting that dharma and liberation are clarified through dialogue and tested by the reactions of different social roles.
Within the Mokṣadharma section, Yudhiṣṭhira continues questioning Bhīṣma about the Jāpaka–Ikṣvāku episode: after a speech has been delivered, he wants to know what the two principal interlocutors (the Brāhmaṇa and the king) said in reply, so the lesson’s outcome and resolution can be understood.