Shloka 2
आत्मदर्शन-उपदेशः (Ātma-darśana Upadeśa) — Mind, Senses, and the All-pervading Self
लोकतत्त्वं च कार्त्स्न्येन भूतानामागतिं गतिम् । सर्गश्न निधनं चैव कुत एतत् प्रवर्तते,मैं लोकका तत्त्व पूर्णरूपसे जानना चाहता हूँ। प्राणियोंक आवागमन और सृष्टि-प्रलय किससे होते हैं?
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | lokatattvaṃ ca kārtsnyena bhūtānām āgatiṃ gatiṃ | sargaś ca nidhanaṃ caiva kuta etat pravartate ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “I wish to understand, in its entirety, the true nature of the world—how beings come and go in the course of transmigration, and how creation and dissolution occur. From what source does this whole process arise and proceed?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a foundational inquiry of Śānti Parva: understanding the causal basis of saṃsāra—how beings repeatedly arrive and depart—and the larger cosmic rhythm of creation and dissolution. It sets up a dharmic-philosophical discussion in which ethical life is linked to knowing the causes (often explained through karma, time, and ultimate reality) that govern worldly existence.
In the post-war instruction setting of Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira, seeking clarity and peace, asks for a comprehensive explanation of the world’s nature: the movement of beings through birth and death and the mechanisms behind cosmic creation and destruction. This question invites the teacher’s discourse on metaphysical causes and moral order.