Shloka 2
अश्वशिरो-आख्यानम्
Aśvaśiras / Hayaśiras Narrative: Retrieval of the Vedas
कुतो हास्य ध्रुव: स्वर्ग: कुतो नैःश्रेयसं परम् । विधिना केन जुहुयाद् दैवं पित्रयं तथैव च,मनुष्यको अक्षय स्वर्गकी प्राप्ति कैसे हो सकती है? उसे परम कल्याण किस साधनसे सुलभ हो सकता है? वह किस विधिसे देवताओं तथा पितरोंके उद्देश्यसे होम करे?
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | kuto hāsya dhruvaḥ svargaḥ kuto naiḥśreyasaṃ param | vidhinā kena juhuyād daivaṃ pitryaṃ tathaiva ca ||
Yudhiṣṭhira dit : «Comment un être humain peut-il atteindre un ciel infaillible ? Et par quel moyen assurer le bien suprême—la béatitude ultime ? Par quel rite prescrit doit-on offrir les oblations destinées aux dieux, et de même à l’intention des ancêtres ? »
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a classic Śānti Parva inquiry: distinguishing between the assured fruit of ritual merit (svarga) and the supreme good (naiḥśreyasa), and asking for the correct, dharma-grounded method of offerings to gods and ancestors—implying that right intention and right procedure matter for both worldly and ultimate aims.
In the instruction-focused setting of the Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira poses a practical and ethical question to his teacher: how an ordinary person can attain lasting heavenly reward, how to reach the highest welfare beyond mere heaven, and what the proper injunctions are for making fire-offerings directed to deities and to the Pitṛs.