Shloka 1
Brāhmaṇa-māhātmya: Tārkṣya’s instruction on tapas, satya, and svadharma
Chapter 182
हि () हि २ 7 एकाशीरत्याधिकशततमो< ध्याय: युधिष्ठटिरद्वारा अपने प्रश्नोंका उचित उत्तर पाकर संतुष्ट हुए सर्परूपधारी नहुषका भीमसेनको छोड़ देना तथा युधिष्ठटिरके साथ वार्तालाप करनेके प्रभावसे सर्पयोनिसे मुक्त होकर स्वर्ग जाना युधिछिर उवाच भवानेतादृशो लोके वेदवेदाड़पारग: । ब्रूहि कि कुर्वतः कर्म भवेद् गतिरनुत्तमा,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--तुम सम्पूर्ण वेद-वेदांगोंके पारगामी हो। लोकमें तुम्हारी ऐसी ही ख्वाति है। बताओ, किस कर्मके आचरणसे सर्वोत्तम गति प्राप्त हो सकती है?
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | bhavān etādṛśo loke vedavedāṅgapāragaḥ | brūhi kiṃ kurvataḥ karma bhaved gatir anuttamā ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “You are renowned in this world as one who has mastered the Vedas and their auxiliary disciplines. Tell me—by performing what kind of action, and by what manner of conduct, does one attain the highest, unsurpassed destiny?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a central dharma-question: among all possible actions (karma), which kind—understood as duty performed with right intention and ethical discipline—leads to the highest human goal (anuttamā gati), i.e., the best ultimate destiny or liberation.
After receiving satisfactory answers in the ongoing dialogue (with the learned interlocutor in this episode), Yudhiṣṭhira respectfully acknowledges the other’s Vedic mastery and asks a culminating question: what conduct or action grants the supreme end.