Shloka 2

Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच सांख्या: सांख्य॑ प्रशंसन्ति योगा योगं द्विजातय: । वदन्ति कारण श्रेष्ठ स्वपक्षोद्धावनाय वै,भीष्मजीने कहा--युधिष्छिर! सांख्यके विद्वान्‌ सांख्यकी और योगके ज्ञाता द्विज योगकी प्रशंसा करते हैं। दोनों ही अपने-अपने पक्षकी उत्कृष्टता सूचित करनेके लिये उत्तमोत्तम युक्तियोंका प्रतिपादन करते हैं

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | sāṅkhyāḥ sāṅkhyaṃ praśaṃsanti yogā yogaṃ dvijātayaḥ | vadanti kāraṇaśreṣṭha svapakṣoddhāvanāya vai |

Translation

Bhishma said: “The followers of Sāṅkhya praise Sāṅkhya, and the practitioners of Yoga—O best of causes—praise Yoga. Each side, intent on elevating its own standpoint, puts forward the finest arguments to establish its superiority.”

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'sāṅkhyāḥ': 'followers/knowers of Sāṅkhya (the analytic path of discernment)', 'sāṅkhyam': 'Sāṅkhya doctrine

• discriminative knowledge', 'praśaṃsanti': 'praise, commend', 'yogāḥ': 'followers/practitioners of Yoga', 'yogam': 'Yoga

• disciplined practice leading to concentration and liberation', 'dvijātayaḥ': 'twice-born (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas)

• learned men', 'vadanti': 'they say, they argue', 'kāraṇaśreṣṭha': 'O best among causes / O most excellent one (vocative epithet)', 'svapakṣa': 'one’s own side/position/doctrine', 'uddhāvanāya': 'for the raising up, promoting, establishing', 'vai': 'indeed, certainly (emphatic particle)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• twice-born (dvijāti)
• Sankhya
• Yoga

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma notes that philosophical schools often defend their own methods—Sāṅkhya through discriminative analysis and Yoga through disciplined practice—each offering strong reasoning to promote its path. The ethical implication is to recognize sectarian bias and look for the underlying aim: liberation and right understanding.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhishthira, Bhishma introduces a comparison of spiritual paths. He observes that learned adherents of Sāṅkhya and Yoga each praise their own system and argue for its excellence, setting the stage for a broader synthesis or evaluation of the two approaches.