Shloka 1
कुण्डधारोपाख्यानम्
Kuṇḍadhāra-Upākhyāna: Dharma’s Superiority over Wealth and Desire
शीस्स्नश्ना5सस शत भ्रनिध्ररॉभ्राध्स चतुःषष्ट्याधिकद्विशततमो< ध्याय: जाजलिको पक्षियोंका उपदेश चुलाधार उवाच सद्धिर्वा यदि वासद्धि पन्थानमिममास्थितम् । प्रत्यक्ष क्रियतां साधु ततो ज्ञास्यसि तद् यथा
Culādhāra uvāca — sādhibhir vā yadi vāsādhibhiḥ panthānam imam āsthitam | pratyakṣaṃ kriyatāṃ sādhu tato jñāsyasi tad yathā ||
Culādhāra berkata: “Wahai Brāhmaṇa, apakah jalan dharma yang kupegang ini ditempuh oleh orang-orang baik atau oleh yang tidak-baik—telitilah dengan saksama dan buktikanlah secara langsung. Maka engkau akan mengetahui kenyataannya sebagaimana adanya.”
चुलाधार उवाच
Educational Q&A
Culādhāra urges that the worth of a dharmic path should be tested by careful, direct examination—verifying whether it aligns with the conduct of the truly virtuous and stands up to lived, observable reality.
In the Culādhāra–Jājali discourse of Śānti Parva, Culādhāra responds to the brahmin seeker by inviting him to scrutinize the path of dharma being taught, not merely accept it on assertion, and to arrive at certainty through direct assessment.