Shloka 115
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
वेदपूर्व वेदितव्यं प्रयत्नात् तत् वै वेदस्तस्य वेद: शरीरम् । वेदस्तत्त्वं तत्समासोपलब्धौ क्लीबस्त्वात्मा ततू स वेद्यस्य वेद्यम्
vedapūrvaṁ veditavyaṁ prayatnāt tat vai vedas tasya vedaḥ śarīram | vedas tattvaṁ tat-samāsopalabdhau klībatv ātmā tato sa vedyasya vedyam ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “What is grounded in the Veda must be known with earnest effort; for that indeed is ‘Veda’. For the one who truly knows, the Veda itself becomes the very body (support) of knowledge. Its essence is realized when it is grasped in its concise synthesis; but when the self falls into impotence—into lack of inner strength and clarity—then even what ought to be known remains merely an object of knowing, not a lived realization.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True knowledge must be pursued diligently and grounded in authoritative wisdom (the Veda). Its essence is grasped by understanding the condensed gist, but inner weakness (loss of moral and mental vigor) prevents knowledge from becoming realized truth in one’s life.
In the Vana Parva dialogue context, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks reflectively about the nature of Vedic knowledge—how it should be sought, how its essence is apprehended, and how a weakened inner self fails to assimilate what is knowable into lived understanding.