नारद–शुक संवादः
Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga
जायन्ते च म्रियन्ते च यस्मिन्नेते यतश््युता: । वेदार्थ ये न जानन्ति वेद्यं गन्धर्वसत्तम
jāyante ca mriyante ca yasminn ete yataś cyutāḥ | vedārtha ye na jānanti vedyaṃ gandharvasattama gandharvarāja | samastabhūtaṃ yasmin sthitaṃ yasmād utpadyate yatra ca līyate tam vedapratipādyaṃ jñeyaṃ paramātmānaṃ ye na jānanti te paramārthataś cyutāḥ punar api jāyante mriyante ca |
ヤージュニャヴァルキヤは言った。「一切の生きとし生けるものは、かの“それ”において生じ、かの“それ”において滅する。そこに依りて住し、そこより生まれ、そこへと再び融け帰る。おお、ガンダルヴァの中の最勝者よ、ガンダルヴァの王よ。ヴェーダの義を悟らず、ヴェーダが示す“知るべき最高の自己(アートマン)”を知らぬ者は、至上の善より逸れ、ゆえに生死を繰り返すのだ。」
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
True freedom from repeated birth and death depends on knowing the Veda’s highest purport: the knowable Supreme Self (Paramātman) in whom all beings abide, from whom they arise, and into whom they dissolve. Ignorance of this leads to deviation from the highest good and continued saṃsāra.
In a didactic exchange within Śānti Parva, the sage Yājñavalkya addresses the king of the Gandharvas, emphasizing that mere existence within the cosmic process is not liberation; only insight into the Veda-taught Supreme Self ends the cycle of birth and death.