Shloka 21
Aśoka-śāstra: Nārada’s Instruction on the Cessation of Śoka
Grief
गच्छेत् प्राप्पाक्षयं कृत्समनमजन्म शिवमव्ययम् | शाश्वतं स्थानमचल दुष्प्रापमकृतात्मभि:
gacchet prāpyākṣayaṁ kṛtsnam anāmayam ajanmā śivam avyayam | śāśvataṁ sthānam acalaṁ duṣprāpam akṛtātmabhiḥ ||
Yājñavalkya said: “One should go on to attain that imperishable, all-encompassing state—free from affliction, unborn, auspicious, and undecaying: the eternal, unmoving abode, difficult to reach for those who have not disciplined and purified themselves.”
याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation is described as an imperishable, unborn, auspicious, unchanging state; it is attainable through inner purification and self-mastery, and remains difficult for the undisciplined.
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, the sage Yājñavalkya delivers a concise instruction on the nature of the highest goal—an eternal, unmoving abode—and stresses the ethical-ascetic prerequisite of a disciplined self.