Shloka 38

Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

मोक्षे हि त्रिविधा निष्ठा दृष्टान्यैमो क्षवित्तमै: । ज्ञानं लोकोत्तरं यच्च सर्वत्यागश्न॒ कर्मणाम्‌

Transliteration

janaka uvāca | mokṣe hi trividhā niṣṭhā dṛṣṭā nyaiḥ mokṣavittamaiḥ | jñānaṁ lokottaraṁ yac ca sarvatyāgaś ca karmaṇām ||

Translation

Janaka said: “Those who are foremost among the knowers of liberation have discerned that steadfastness leading to moksha is of three kinds: transcendent knowledge; complete renunciation of actions; and the performance of action in a non-attached spirit, without desire for its fruits. These are the recognized disciplines by which one is guided beyond the ordinary world toward freedom.”

Word by Word

• {'mokṣe': 'in liberation

• with regard to moksha', 'hi': 'indeed, certainly', 'trividhā': 'threefold', 'niṣṭhā': 'steadfast commitment

• firm path', 'dṛṣṭā': 'seen, recognized, ascertained', 'nyaiḥ': 'by others

• by the wise (instrumental plural)', 'mokṣavittamaiḥ': 'by the best knowers of moksha (mokṣa-vit-tama)', 'jñānam': 'knowledge

• liberating insight', 'lokottaram': 'beyond the world

• transcendent, supra-mundane', 'yat ca': 'and which', 'sarvatyāgaḥ': 'complete abandonment

• total renunciation', 'karmaṇām': 'of actions

Speaker

जनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Janaka

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Liberation is approached through three recognized disciplines: (1) lokottara-jñāna—transcendent knowledge that uproots ignorance; (2) sarva-tyāga—complete renunciation of actions (as a life-orientation of withdrawal); and (3) the complementary ideal often paired with this teaching—acting without attachment (niṣkāma-karma), where deeds are performed without egoistic claim or craving for results.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s reflective instruction, King Janaka speaks as a paradigmatic philosopher-king. He summarizes what authoritative knowers of moksha have concluded: that seekers may be firmly established in different but valid modes of practice—knowledge, renunciation, and disciplined action free from attachment—each oriented toward the same goal of liberation.