Shloka 4
Śuka–Janaka Saṃvāda: Āśrama-krama, Jñāna-vijñāna, and the Marks of Liberation (शुक-जनक संवादः)
हस्तावध्यात्ममित्याहुर्यथा संख्यानदर्शिन: । कर्तव्यमधिभूतं तु इन्द्रस्तत्राधिदिवतम्
hastāv adhyātmam ity āhur yathā saṅkhyānadarśinaḥ | kartavyam adhibhūtaṃ tu indras tatrādhidaivatam ||
याज्ञवल्क्य बोले—जैसा संख्यानदर्शी कहते हैं, दोनों हाथ अध्यात्म हैं; जो कर्म करना है वह अधिभूत है; और वहाँ इन्द्र अधिदैवत हैं।
याज़्वल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse maps experience into three correlated registers: (1) adhyātma—the inner, subjective basis (here, the hands as faculties of action within the embodied self); (2) adhibhūta—the objective field where actions and duties are carried out (the ‘to-be-done’ act); and (3) adhidaivata—the presiding divine principle that governs or empowers that function (Indra). This framework ethically situates action: duty is performed in the world, through inner faculties, under an ordering principle.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Yājñavalkya is explaining a classificatory doctrine used by ‘category-seers’ (saṅkhyāna-darśinaḥ). He identifies how a bodily faculty (hands), an action/duty (kartavya), and a deity (Indra) correspond across the adhyātma–adhibhūta–adhidaivata scheme.