Shloka 45
Śānti-parva 168: Śoka-nivṛtti-buddhi (The Cognition that Reduces Grief) and Piṅgalā’s Nairāśya
भूतानि जातिस्मरणात्मकानि जराविकारैश्न समन्वितानि । भूयश्व तैस्तै: प्रतिबोधितानि मोक्ष प्रशंसन्ति न तं च विद्य:
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
bhūtāni jātismaraṇātmakāni jarāvikāraiś ca na samanvitāni |
bhūyaś ca tais tais pratibodhitāni mokṣaṃ praśaṃsanti na taṃ ca vidmaḥ ||
ユディシュティラは言った。「前生を想起し、老いの歪みに悩まされぬ存在がいる。さまざまな経験によって幾度も目覚めさせられ教えられ、彼らは解脱のみを讃える。だが我らは、その解脱を真に知ってはいない。」
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Those who are spiritually awakened—described as remembering past births and being free from the impairments of old age—come to value liberation above worldly experience; Yudhiṣṭhira admits that ordinary people lack clear knowledge of mokṣa and thus need instruction.
In Śānti Parva’s discourse setting, Yudhiṣṭhira raises a reflective question about liberation: he contrasts rare, awakened beings who extol mokṣa with his own uncertainty, preparing the ground for further teaching on the nature and means of liberation.