Shloka 4
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
कथमायुरवाप्रोति कथं भवति सत्त्ववान् | कथमव्यंगतामेति लक्षण्यो जायते कथम्
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
katham āyur avāpnoti kathaṁ bhavati sattvavān | katham avyaṅgatām eti lakṣaṇyo jāyate katham ||
Dijo Yudhiṣṭhira: «¿Cómo alcanza una persona una vida larga? ¿Cómo llega a ser fuerte y dotada de vigor interior? ¿Por qué medios obtiene la plenitud—libre de defecto o menoscabo—y cómo nace provista de signos auspiciosos?»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: longevity, strength, bodily wholeness, and auspicious qualities are not treated as mere chance but as outcomes to be understood through right conduct, inner virtue (sattva), and ethical living—topics that the ensuing instruction in the Anuśāsana Parva typically elaborates.
Yudhiṣṭhira, seeking guidance on the foundations of a good and complete human life, asks an elder authority (in this parva’s instructional setting) how one gains long life, strength, freedom from defects, and auspicious characteristics.