Shloka 83
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
प्रवृत्तिलक्षणं धर्म पश्यामि परमं नूप । मग्नस्य हि परे ज्ञाने कि नु दुःखतरं भवेत्,सिद्धावस्थाको प्राप्त ऋषियोंके लिये मोक्षमें यह एक बड़ा दोष प्रतीत होता है। वह यह कि यदि मोक्ष प्राप्त होनेपर भी वे यतिलोग विशेष ज्ञानमें ही विचरण करते हैं अर्थात् उनको पहलेकी स्मृति रहती है, तब तो मैं प्रवृत्तिरूप धर्मको ही सर्वश्रेष्ठ समझता हूँ। यदि कहें, मुक्तावस्थामें विशेष विज्ञानका अनुभव नहीं होता तब तो उस परम ज्ञानमें डूब जानेपर विशेष जानकारीका अभाव हो जाता है, इससे बढ़कर दुःख और क्या हो सकता सकता है?
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: Pravṛtti-lakṣaṇaṁ dharmaṁ paśyāmi paramaṁ nūpa; magnasya hi pare jñāne kiṁ nu duḥkhataraṁ bhavet?
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O king, I regard the dharma characterized by engagement in action (pravṛtti) as the highest. For one who is submerged in the supreme knowledge, what could be more painful than the loss of distinct awareness?”
युधिषछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Yudhiṣṭhira voices an ethical concern about liberation conceived as absorption in supreme knowledge: if such absorption entails loss of distinct cognition (and, by implication, meaningful awareness), then action-oriented dharma (pravṛtti)—with its responsibilities and intelligible moral life—appears preferable.
In the Śānti Parva’s discussions on dharma and mokṣa, Yudhiṣṭhira questions the value of a liberation-state described as being ‘immersed in supreme knowledge.’ He argues that if, in that state, differentiated knowing is absent, it seems like a profound deprivation, prompting him to praise pravṛtti-dharma as the higher path.