Shloka 3
Ātma-saṃyama-dharma: One-pointedness of Mind and Senses (शुक–व्यास संवादः)
वेदे वचनमुक्तं तु कुरु कर्म त्यजेति च । कथमेतद् विजानीयां तच्च व्याख्यातुमरहसि
vede vacanam uktaṃ tu kuru karma tyajeti ca | katham etad vijānīyāṃ tac ca vyākhyātum arhasi ||
ವೇದದಲ್ಲಿ ‘ಕರ್ಮವನ್ನು ಮಾಡು’ ಮತ್ತು ‘ಕರ್ಮವನ್ನು ತ್ಯಜಿಸು’—ಎಂಬ ಎರಡೂ ವಿಧಿಗಳು ಹೇಳಲ್ಪಟ್ಟಿವೆ. ಇದರ ತಾತ್ಪರ್ಯವನ್ನು ನಾನು ಹೇಗೆ ತಿಳಿಯಲಿ, ವಿರೋಧವು ನಿವಾರಣೆಯಾಗುವಂತೆ? ದಯವಿಟ್ಟು ವಿವರಿಸಿ।
शुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a classic interpretive problem: the Veda appears to command both engagement in duty (karma) and renunciation (tyāga). Śuka asks for a principled explanation that reconciles these teachings rather than treating them as mutually exclusive.
Śuka, as the speaker, poses a doctrinal question to a teacher/elder in the Śānti Parva discourse setting, requesting clarification on how to understand seemingly opposing Vedic directives about action and renunciation.