Shloka 4

Devanagari script

युधिछिर उवाच अज्ञानस्य प्रवृत्ति च स्थान वृद्धिक्षयोदयौ । मूलं योगं गतिं कालं॑ कारणं हेतुमेव च,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--भूपाल! अज्ञानकी उत्पत्ति, स्थिति, वृद्धि, क्षय, उद्गम, मूल, योग, गति, काल, कारण और हेतु कया हैं?

Transliteration

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | ajñānasya pravṛttiṁ ca sthāna-vṛddhi-kṣayodayau | mūlaṁ yogaṁ gatiṁ kālaṁ kāraṇaṁ hetum eva ca ||

Translation

ユディシュティラは言った。「王よ、無明について語ってください—その生起と働き、住するありさま、増大と衰滅、そして現れ。さらに、その根本、結びつき（ヨーガ）、その行路（ガティ）、時の役割、そして真の原因と直接の動因とは何かを。」

Word by Word

युधिष्ठिरःYudhiṣṭhira

उवाचsaid

अज्ञानस्यof ignorance

प्रवृत्तिःarising; activity; origination

चand

स्थानम्abiding; state; continuance

वृद्धिःincrease; growth

क्षयःdecay; diminution; destruction

उदयौtwo risings/origins (dual form as in the received text)

मूलम्root; source

योगम्connection; conjunction; yoga

गतिम्course; movement; destiny

कालम्time

कारणम्cause

हेतुम्reason; motive

एवindeed; just

चand

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

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?

The verse frames a systematic ethical-philosophical inquiry: ignorance is not treated vaguely but analyzed through its lifecycle (arising, persistence, growth, decline) and through causal categories (root, connection, course, time, cause, motive). This prepares for a dharma-centered explanation of how delusion forms and how it can be understood and overcome.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction setting, Yudhiṣṭhira questions a royal-sage authority (addressed as ‘O king’) and asks for a detailed account of ajñāna—how it begins, how it operates in life, what sustains it, and what factors (including time and causation) govern it.