Shloka 15
असंतोषादिदोष-निरूपणम्
On the Faults of Discontent and the Discipline of Detachment
पन्थानौ पितृयानश्व देवयानश्व विश्रुतौ । ईजाना: पितृयानेन देवयानेन मोक्षिण:
panthānau pitṛyānaś ca devayānaś ca viśrutau | ījānāḥ pitṛyānena devayānena mokṣiṇaḥ ||
युधिष्ठिर बोले—दो मार्ग प्रसिद्ध हैं: पितृयान और देवयान। जो यज्ञादि कर्म पितृयान के अनुसार करते हैं, वे पितृमार्ग को प्राप्त होते हैं; और जो देवयान से चलते हैं, वे मोक्ष को प्राप्त होते हैं।
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes two classical spiritual trajectories: pitṛyāna, linked with sacrificial/ritual merit and the ancestral realm, and devayāna, linked with the higher divine course culminating in liberation (mokṣa). It frames ethical-spiritual choice as a choice of path shaped by one’s practice and aim.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and ultimate good, Yudhiṣṭhira raises a doctrinal point about the well-known ‘two paths’ taught in śāstric tradition, contrasting outcomes for ritual performers and those who follow the divine path toward release.