Shloka 48

जनक–सुलभा संवादः

Janaka–Sulabhā Dialogue on Mokṣa and Non-attachment

Devanagari script

अविज्ञानाच्च मूढात्मा पुन: पुनरुपाद्रवत्‌ । प्रेत्य जातिसहस्राणि मरणान्तान्युपाश्ुते,मूर्ख मनुष्य इस तत्त्वको न जाननेके कारण बारंबार संसारमें आता है और हजारों योनियोंमें जन्म-मरणके कष्टका अनुभव करता है

Transliteration

avijñānāc ca mūḍhātmā punaḥ punar upādravat | pretya jātisahasrāṇi maraṇāntāny upāśnute ||

Translation

Karena ketiadaan pengetahuan sejati, diri yang terdelusi kembali dan kembali menerjang ke dalam samsara. Setelah mati pun ia menanggung akhir kehidupan berulang-ulang—merasakan derita kelahiran dan kematian dalam ribuan bentuk kehidupan.

Word by Word

अविज्ञानात्from ignorance / due to non-knowledge

चand

मूढात्माthe deluded-souled person (fool)

पुनःagain

उपाद्रवत्ran into / rushed towards (i.e., entered again and again)

प्रेत्यhaving departed (from this world) / after death

जातिbirths / species / wombs

सहस्राणिthousands

मरणान्तानिending in death / death-terminating

उपाश्नुतेexperiences / undergoes

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Ignorance of the true nature of reality leads a person to repeated entanglement in saṃsāra; without right knowledge, one continues to undergo countless births that inevitably end in death and suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhīṣma is teaching that delusion and lack of discernment drive beings back into repeated worldly existence, resulting in continual experience of birth-and-death across many forms.