Shloka 5
शुकस्य योगसिद्धिः (Śuka’s Yogic Attainment and Ascent)
एक समयकी बात है, विदेहदेशके राजा जनकने वेद-वेत्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ महर्षि पंचशिखसे, जिनके धर्म और अर्थ-विषयक संदेह नष्ट हो गये थे, इस प्रकार प्रश्न किया-- ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | eka-samayasya vṛttānto 'sti | videha-deśasya rājā janako veda-vettṛṣu śreṣṭhaṃ maharṣiṃ pañcaśikhaṃ, yasya dharma-artha-viṣayakāḥ saṃśayāḥ praṇaṣṭāḥ, evaṃ papraccha— kena vṛttena bhagavan atikrāmej jarāntakau? tapasā vātha buddhyā vā karmaṇā vā śrutena vā? | “bhagavan! kena ācāreṇa, tapasā, buddhyā, karmaṇā athavā śāstra-jñānena manuṣyo jarāṃ mṛtyuṃ ca laṅghayituṃ śaknoti?”
Bhīṣma dit : Un jour, le roi Janaka de Videha interrogea le grand sage Pañcaśikha, le premier parmi les connaisseurs du Veda, dont les doutes au sujet du dharma et de l’artha (la prospérité mondaine) avaient été dissipés. Janaka demanda : « Vénérable, par quel genre de vie peut-on franchir la vieillesse et la mort — par l’austérité, par la clairvoyance, par l’action, ou par l’étude des Écritures ? Par quelle conduite, quelle discipline, quelle intelligence, quels actes ou quel savoir sacré l’homme peut-il transcender le déclin et la mortalité ? »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a classic dharmic inquiry: which human pursuit—ethical conduct, austerity, discernment, action, or scriptural learning—most effectively leads beyond the limits of aging and death. It sets up a teaching that liberation is not merely one external practice, but a principled path requiring right conduct and right understanding directed toward transcendence.
Bhishma recounts an earlier episode: King Janaka of Videha approaches the sage Panchashikha, renowned for Vedic mastery and clarity about dharma and artha, and asks him what means enables a person to cross beyond old age and death.