Shloka 2
अश्वशिरो-आख्यानम्
Aśvaśiras / Hayaśiras Narrative: Retrieval of the Vedas
कुतो हास्य ध्रुव: स्वर्ग: कुतो नैःश्रेयसं परम् । विधिना केन जुहुयाद् दैवं पित्रयं तथैव च
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | kuto hāsya dhruvaḥ svargaḥ kuto naiḥśreyasaṃ param | vidhinā kena juhuyād daivaṃ pitryaṃ tathaiva ca ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “How can a human being attain an unfailing heaven? And by what means can the highest good—final blessedness—be secured? By what prescribed rite should one offer oblations intended for the gods, and likewise for the ancestors?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a classic Śānti Parva inquiry: distinguishing between the assured fruit of ritual merit (svarga) and the supreme good (naiḥśreyasa), and asking for the correct, dharma-grounded method of offerings to gods and ancestors—implying that right intention and right procedure matter for both worldly and ultimate aims.
In the instruction-focused setting of the Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira poses a practical and ethical question to his teacher: how an ordinary person can attain lasting heavenly reward, how to reach the highest welfare beyond mere heaven, and what the proper injunctions are for making fire-offerings directed to deities and to the Pitṛs.