Shloka 3
Ātma-saṃyama-dharma: One-pointedness of Mind and Senses (शुक–व्यास संवादः)
वेदे वचनमुक्तं तु कुरु कर्म त्यजेति च । कथमेतद् विजानीयां तच्च व्याख्यातुमरहसि
vede vacanam uktaṃ tu kuru karma tyajeti ca | katham etad vijānīyāṃ tac ca vyākhyātum arhasi ||
In the Veda, two injunctions are spoken—“perform action” and also “renounce action.” How am I to understand this, so that the seeming contradiction is removed? Please explain it.
शुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a classic interpretive problem: the Veda appears to command both engagement in duty (karma) and renunciation (tyāga). Śuka asks for a principled explanation that reconciles these teachings rather than treating them as mutually exclusive.
Śuka, as the speaker, poses a doctrinal question to a teacher/elder in the Śānti Parva discourse setting, requesting clarification on how to understand seemingly opposing Vedic directives about action and renunciation.