Shloka 6
Aśoka-śāstra: Nārada’s Instruction on the Cessation of Śoka
Grief
प्राणेन गन्धवहन नेत्राभ्यामग्निमेव च । भ्रूभ्यां चैवाश्विनौ देवा ललाटेन पितृनथ,नासिकासे प्राणोंका उत्क्रमण हो तो मनुष्य वायुदेवताको, दोनों नेत्रोंसे हो तो अग्निदेवताको, दोनों भौंहोंसे हो तो अश्विनीकुमारोंको और ललाटसे हो तो पितरोंको प्राप्त होता है
prāṇena gandhavahanaṃ netrābhyām agnim eva ca | bhrūbhyāṃ caivāśvinau devā lalāṭena pitṝn atha ||
Bila napas-hidup keluar melalui hidung, seseorang mencapai Vāyu sang pembawa wewangian; bila melalui kedua mata, ia mencapai Agni; bila melalui kedua alis, ia menuju para Aśvin kembar; dan bila melalui dahi, ia mencapai para Pitṛ (roh leluhur).
याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the point of exit of prāṇa at death corresponds to specific divine realms—Vāyu, Agni, the Aśvins, or the Pitṛs—presenting death as a structured transition governed by subtle physiology and cosmic order.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Yājñavalkya is expounding a doctrinal account of ‘utkrānti’ (departure of life-breath), mapping bodily exit-points to the deities or ancestral realm that the departing being is said to attain.