Shloka 1
Adhyāya 302: Guṇa-vicāra, Gati-bheda, and the Imperishable State
Yājñavalkya–Janaka
युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--पितामह! वह अक्षर तत्त्व कया है, जिसे प्राप्त कर लेनेपर जीव फिर इस संसारमें नहीं लौटता तथा वह क्षर पदार्थ क्या है, जिसको जानने या पा लेनेपर भी पुनः इस संसारमें लौटना पड़ता है?
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca—Pitāmaha! tat akṣara-tattvaṃ kim, yat prāpya jīvaḥ punaḥ asmin saṃsāre na nivartate? ca tat kṣaraṃ padārthaṃ kim, yat jñātvā vā prāpya vā punaḥ asmin saṃsāre nivartate?
Yudhishthira said: “Grandfather, what is that imperishable Reality which, once attained, a living being does not return again to this world? And what is that perishable principle which, even when known or attained, still leads one to return again to worldly existence?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a fundamental inquiry into liberation: the distinction between the imperishable (akṣara)—that realization/attainment which ends return to saṃsāra—and the perishable (kṣara)—that which remains within change and therefore does not by itself free one from rebirth. It sets up Bhishma’s forthcoming instruction on what truly leads to moksha versus what yields only temporary or worldly attainments.
In the Shanti Parva’s post-war instruction, Yudhishthira, seeking clarity on the highest good, questions Bhishma (lying on the bed of arrows) about the nature of the imperishable principle that grants non-return and the perishable principle that still entails return to worldly existence.