Shloka 1
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
अपन बछ। ] अफण का: विशत्यवथिकत्रेशततमोब् ध्याय: राजा जनककी परीक्षा करनेके लिये आयी हुई सुलभाका उनके शरीरमें प्रवेश करना
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: aparityajya gārhasthyaṁ kururājarṣi-sattama | kaḥ prāpto vinayaṁ buddhvā mokṣa-tattvaṁ vadasva me ||
Yudhiṣṭhira dit : «Ô le plus éminent des sages rois de la lignée des Kuru ! Sans renoncer à la voie du maître de maison, qui a atteint cet état où l’esprit se trouve apaisé et discipliné, et a ainsi réalisé la vérité de la délivrance ? Dis-moi ce principe du mokṣa.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a key Śānti Parva inquiry: whether liberation (mokṣa) and the stilling of the mind can be realized while remaining a householder. It highlights that mokṣa is tied to inner discipline and understanding, not merely to an external change of social status.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a revered royal sage of the Kuru line and asks for an example and explanation: who has attained liberation without giving up household life, and what is the true principle of mokṣa that makes such attainment possible.