Shloka 107
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
ज्ञानेन कर्मणा वापि जरामरणमेव च । व्याधयश्र प्रहीयन्ते प्राप्यते चोत्तमं पदम्,तत्त्वज्ञान या सत्कर्मसे ही जरा, मृत्यु तथा रोगोंका नाश होता है और उत्तम पद (मुक्ति)-की प्राप्ति होती है
jñānena karmaṇā vāpi jarāmaraṇam eva ca | vyādhayaś ca prahīyante prāpyate cottamaṃ padam ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “By true knowledge, or even by righteous action, old age and death—and diseases as well—are cast off; and the highest state is attained.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that both spiritual knowledge (jñāna) and righteous action (karma aligned with dharma) can lead toward liberation: the overcoming of the human condition marked by disease, old age, and death, culminating in attainment of the ‘highest state’ (uttamaṃ padam), i.e., mokṣa.
In the Vana Parva’s forest-dialogue setting, Yudhiṣṭhira voices a reflective, philosophical point: he frames the path to the supreme goal as accessible through inner realization (tattva-jñāna) and/or sustained virtuous conduct (sat-karma), emphasizing ethical life and insight as transformative.