Shloka 65
देवतापितृप्रश्नः — Nārada at Badarīāśrama: the ultimate referent of daiva and pitṛ worship
यथा त्वमेव पृष्ठतस्त्वमग्रतो गमिष्यसि । तथा गति गमिष्यत: किमात्मना परेण वा,जिस समय तुम शरीर छोड़कर परलोककी राह लोगे, उस समय तुम्हीं पीछे रहोगे और तुम्हीं आगे चलोगे--तुम्हारे सिवा दूसरा कोई वहाँ आगे-पीछे चलनेवाला न होगा। ऐसी दशामें किसी अपने या पराये व्यक्तिसे तुम्हारा क्या प्रयोजन है?
yathā tvam eva pṛṣṭhatas tvam agrato gamiṣyasi | tathā gatiṃ gamiṣyataḥ kim ātmanā pareṇa vā ||
Vyāsa said: “When you leave the body and take the road to the next world, you alone will be behind and you alone will be in front—besides you, no one truly walks before or after. In such a state, what use are ‘one’s own’ or ‘another’ at all?”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
At death and in the onward journey, one stands alone: no relative or outsider can accompany, substitute, or share one’s karmic burden. Therefore one should loosen possessiveness and rely on dharma and one’s own conduct rather than on social attachments.
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa instructs the listener with a stark image of the solitary journey after leaving the body, using it to argue for detachment from ‘mine’ and ‘not mine’ and for personal responsibility in ethical life.