Shloka 3

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

Devanagari script

अनीथ्चवर:ः कथं मुच्येदित्येवं शत्रुकर्शन । वदन्ति कारणै: श्रैष्ठ्यं योगा: सम्पड्मनीषिण:,शत्रुसूदन! योगके मनीषी विद्वान्‌ अपने मतकी श्रेष्ठता बताते हुए यह युक्ति उपस्थित करते हैं कि ईश्वरका अस्तित्व स्वीकार किये बिना किसीकी भी मुक्ति कैसे हो सकती है? (अतः मोक्षदाता ईश्वरकी सत्ता अवश्य स्वीकार करनी चाहिये)

Transliteration

Bhīṣma uvāca: anīśvarāḥ kathaṁ mucyed ity evaṁ śatrukarśana | vadanti kāraṇaiḥ śraiṣṭhyaṁ yogāḥ sampad-manīṣiṇaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “O subduer of foes, they argue thus: ‘How could one who denies the Lord ever attain liberation?’ In this way, discerning thinkers—skilled in reasoning—set forth the superiority of their yogic doctrine, insisting that acceptance of the Lord’s reality is necessary for moksha.”

Word by Word

• {'Bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'anīśvarāḥ': 'those who deny the Lord

• non-theists (lit. ‘without Īśvara’)', 'katham': 'how?', 'mucyet': 'could be liberated

• would attain release (from saṁsāra)', 'iti evaṁ': 'thus

• in this manner', 'śatrukarśana': 'O crusher/subduer of enemies (vocative address)', 'vadanti': 'they say

• they maintain', 'kāraṇaiḥ': 'with reasons

• by arguments', 'śraiṣṭhyam': 'superiority

• excellence', 'yogāḥ': 'yogic paths/doctrines

• disciplines leading to liberation', 'sampad-manīṣiṇaḥ': 'accomplished/competent sages

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Īśvara (the Lord)
• śatrukarśana (address to the listener, traditionally Yudhiṣṭhira)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a theistic argument: liberation (moksha) is not possible for one who rejects Īśvara; learned proponents of yoga claim their view is superior because it acknowledges a Lord as essential to release.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to the king, Bhīṣma reports the reasoning used by certain yogic thinkers: they challenge non-theistic positions by asking how liberation could occur without accepting the existence of a supreme Lord.