Shloka 129
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
इदं मे स्यादिदं नेति द्वन्द्वैर्मुक्तस्य मैथिल । कासि कस्य कुतो वेति वचनै: कि प्रयोजनम्
idaṃ me syād idaṃ neti dvandvair muktasya maithila | kāsi kasya kuto veti vacanaiḥ ki prayojanam mithilānareśa ||
Bhishma said: O king of Mithila, if you are freed from the pairs of opposites that generate thoughts like, ‘May this come to me’ and ‘May this not,’ then what purpose is served by asking with words such as, ‘Who are you? Whose are you? Or from where have you come?’
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Freedom from dvandvas (dualities of desire and aversion) makes identity-based questioning—‘who are you, whose are you, where are you from’—ethically and spiritually secondary. The verse points to a liberated outlook where inner equanimity matters more than social labels or origins.
Bhishma addresses the king of Mithila (Janaka) and comments on a situation involving a woman being questioned. He argues that if one is truly beyond dualistic craving and fear, then interrogations about personal identity and provenance have little practical or spiritual value.