Shloka 24
Karma, Preta-gati, and the Continuity of Phala
Mārkaṇḍeya’s Instruction
वेद्यं यच्चात्र निर्दुः:खमसुखं च नराधिप । ताभ्यां हीन॑ पद चान्यन्न तदस्तीति लक्षये,नरेश्वर! तुमने यहाँ जो जाननेयोग्य तत्त्वको दुःख और सुखसे परे बताया है, सो दुःख और सुखसे रहित किसी दूसरी वस्तुकी सत्ता ही मैं नहीं देखता हूँ
vedyaṃ yac cātra nirdūḥkham asukhaṃ ca narādhipa | tābhyāṃ hīnaṃ padaṃ cānyan na tad astīti lakṣaye ||
The serpent said: “O king, the knowable principle you describe here as beyond both sorrow and pleasure—I do not perceive any other state or reality that exists apart from these two. To me, nothing else is found that is wholly free of both pain and happiness.”
सर्प उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a skeptical challenge: the speaker doubts that any knowable state exists beyond the duality of pleasure (sukha) and pain (duḥkha). It frames a key philosophical issue in dharma and mokṣa discussions—whether liberation or the highest good can be described as transcending experiential opposites.
In a dialogue, the serpent addresses a king and responds to the king’s description of a knowable principle said to be beyond both sorrow and pleasure. The serpent counters by asserting that he cannot recognize any reality or ‘state’ that is truly separate from these two experiences.