Shloka 1
अपन बक। है २ >> एकचत्वारिशर्दाधिकद्विशततमो< ध्याय: कर्म और ज्ञानका अन्तर तथा ब्रह्माप्राप्तिके उपायका वर्णन शुक उवाच यदिदं वेदवचनं कुरु कर्म त्यजेति च । कां दिशं विद्यया यान्ति कां च गच्छन्ति कर्मणा,शुकदेवने पूछा--पिताजी! वेदमें “कर्म करो” और “कर्म छोड़ो'--ये जो दो प्रकारके वचन मिलते हैं, उनके सम्बन्धमें मैं यह जानना चाहता हूँ कि विद्या (ज्ञान) के द्वारा कर्मको त्याग देनेपर मनुष्य किस दिशामें जाते हैं? और कर्म करनेसे उन्हें किस गतिकी प्राप्ति होती है?
Śuka uvāca: yad idaṃ vedavacanaṃ kuru karma tyajeti ca | kāṃ diśaṃ vidyayā yānti kāṃ ca gacchanti karmaṇā ||
Śuka said: “Father, in the Veda one encounters two kinds of injunctions—‘perform action’ and ‘renounce action.’ I wish to understand this: when a person gives up action through knowledge (vidyā), to what ‘direction’ or state do they go? And by performing action, what destination do they attain?”
शुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a classic Vedic tension: some passages enjoin ritual and duty (karma), while others praise renunciation (tyāga) grounded in knowledge (vidyā). Śuka asks how these two paths differ in their respective outcomes—worldly/heavenly attainments through action versus liberation-oriented attainment through knowledge.
Śuka, the son-disciple, questions his father (implicitly Vyāsa) about apparently conflicting Vedic instructions. He seeks a clear account of the ‘destinations’ reached by those who renounce action through knowledge and by those who pursue action as prescribed duty.