Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 11
Ātma-saṃyama-dharma: One-pointedness of Mind and Senses (शुक–व्यास संवादः)
इत्येतच्छोतुमिच्छामि प्रमाणं तूभयं कथम् । कर्मणामविरोधेन कथं मोक्ष: प्रवर्तते
ity etac chrotum icchāmi pramāṇaṁ tūbhayaṁ katham | karmaṇām avirodhena kathaṁ mokṣaḥ pravartate ||
Śuka said: “I wish to hear this clearly: how can both of these be authoritative—injunctions to act and injunctions to renounce action? If they appear mutually opposed, by what reasoning are they to be accepted as scriptural testimony? And further, without setting oneself against the sphere of prescribed duties, how does liberation come to be attained?”
शुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a central śāstric problem: Vedic teachings sometimes prescribe action (karma, duties/rites) and elsewhere praise renunciation. Śuka asks how both can be valid authorities and how liberation can arise without contradicting the domain of duty—inviting a reconciliation such as differing contexts/eligibilities, stages of life, or inner renunciation while outwardly performing duty.
Śuka, in dialogue with his father (traditionally Vyāsa), requests clarification on an apparent contradiction in scripture: ‘perform action’ versus ‘abandon action.’ He seeks an interpretive principle that preserves the authority of both and a practical account of how mokṣa is attained without rejecting prescribed conduct.