Shloka 2
Āścarya-kathana: Brāhmaṇa–Nāga Dialogue on Sūrya (Vivasvat) and the ‘Second Sun’ Phenomenon
ये तु दग्धेन्धना लोके पुण्यपापविवर्जिता: । तेषां त्वयाभिनिर्दिष्टा पारम्पर्यागता गति:
ye tu dagdhendhanā loke puṇyapāpavivarjitāḥ | teṣāṃ tvayābhinirdiṣṭā pāramparyāgatā gatiḥ ||
Janamejaya said: “But those who, in that world, are like fuel already burnt—free from both merit and sin—of them you have described the destiny that comes down through tradition.”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a state where karmic causality has been exhausted—one is ‘burnt fuel,’ beyond both merit and sin. Janamejaya points to a teaching about the destiny (gati) of such persons, framed as an authoritative account preserved in paramparā (tradition).
Janamejaya addresses the narrator/teacher, referring back to an explanation already given: he notes that the speaker has described, according to traditional transmission, the fate of those who are free from both puṇya and pāpa—i.e., those whose karmic stock is spent.