Shloka 110
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
जीवात्मासे परित्यक्त होनेपर सारे शरीर काठ और दीवारकी भाँति जडवत् होकर महासागरमें उठे हुए फेनोंकी तरह नष्ट हो जाते हैं, इसमें संशय नहीं है ।। आत्मानं विन्दते येन सर्वभूतगुहाशयम् । श्लोकेन यदि वार्धेन क्षीणं तस्य प्रयोजनम्,एक या आधे श्लोकसे भी यदि सम्पूर्ण भूतोंके हृदयदेशमें शयन करनेवाले परमात्माका ज्ञान हो जाय, तो उसके लिये सम्पूर्ण शास्त्रोंके अध्ययनका प्रयोजन समाप्त हो जाता है
jīvātmāse parityakte honepara sāre śarīra kāṭha aura dīvāra kī bhānti jaḍavat hokara mahāsāgarameṃ uṭhe hue phenōṃ kī taraha naṣṭa ho jāte haiṃ, isameṃ saṃśaya nahīṃ hai. ātmānaṃ vindate yena sarvabhūtaguhāśayam. ślokena yadi vārdhena kṣīṇaṃ tasya prayojanam. eka yā ādhe ślokase bhī yadi sampūrṇa bhūtoṃke hṛdayadeśameṃ śayana karanevāle paramātmākā jñāna ho jāya, to usake liye sampūrṇa śāstroṃke adhyayanakā prayojana samāpta ho jātā hai.
Yudhiṣṭhira says: When the individual self departs, the body becomes inert like wood or a wall and perishes like foam rising on the great ocean—of this there is no doubt. But if, even by a single verse or half a verse, one comes to know the Supreme Self who abides hidden in the heart-cave of all beings, then for that person the practical need of exhaustive scriptural study is fulfilled—because the essence has been grasped.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The body is perishable and becomes inert when the jīvātman departs, but realizing the Paramātman dwelling in the heart of all beings is the essence; even a small teaching that yields this realization makes further study secondary in terms of ultimate purpose.
In the Vana Parva discourse setting, Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on mortality and the higher aim of knowledge, contrasting the body’s inevitable decay with the liberating insight of the indwelling Supreme Self.