Shloka 12
Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)
प्रलयं न विजानन्ति आत्मन: परिनिर्मितम् | ततस्तेनास्थिता मार्ग ध्रुवमक्षरमव्ययम्
pralayaṁ na vijānanti ātmanaḥ parinirmitaṁ | tataḥ tenāsthitā mārgaṁ dhruvam akṣaram avyayam ||
Janamejaya asks: “Do they not understand the dissolution (pralaya) that is fashioned by the Self? And therefore, do they not take refuge in that path established by Him—the steady path that is imperishable and undecaying? Apart from this, do Brahmā, Rudra, mighty Indra (slayer of Bala/Asura), the Sun, Soma the lord of stars, Vāyu, Agni, Varuṇa, Ākāśa, the Earth, and the remaining gods—do they too not know the liberating path created by the Supreme Self, such that they do not resort to the unmoving, destructionless, and eternal way?”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames liberation as an imperishable, steady path grounded in the Supreme Self, and raises a philosophical problem: even exalted gods may be ignorant of (or fail to take refuge in) the true mokṣa-path, implying that status and power do not guarantee liberating knowledge.
Janamejaya, in dialogue within the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and ultimate good, questions how cosmic dissolution and the Self-established path to liberation relate to the gods—asking whether even Brahmā, Rudra, Indra, and other deities fail to recognize and follow that eternal path.