Shloka 1
Śuka–Janaka Saṃvāda: Āśrama-krama, Jñāna-vijñāna, and the Marks of Liberation (शुक-जनक संवादः)
अफ-#-राज त्रयोदशाधिकत्रिशततमो< ध्याय: अध्यात्म
yājñavalkya uvāca | pādāv adhyātmam ity āhur brāhmaṇās tattvadarśinaḥ | gantavyam adhibhūtaṃ ca viṣṇus tatrādhidaivatam ||
याज्ञवल्क्य बोले—राजन्! तत्त्वदर्शी ब्राह्मण कहते हैं कि दोनों पाँव अध्यात्म हैं; गन्तव्य स्थान अधिभूत है; और वहाँ विष्णु अधिदैवत हैं।
याज़्वल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a threefold interpretive framework: adhyātma (inner/self-related), adhibhūta (the embodied/material field), and adhidaivata (the presiding divine principle). It maps ‘feet’ to the inner dimension, the ‘destination’ to the field of beings/objects, and identifies Viṣṇu as the divine presider over that domain—linking spiritual practice, worldly reality, and divine governance into one coherent view.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, the sage Yājñavalkya addresses a king and conveys what truth-seeing Brahmins teach. He explains how to understand key terms (adhyātma, adhibhūta, adhidaivata) through symbolic correspondences, guiding the listener toward a disciplined, theologically grounded understanding of reality.