Shloka 15

असंतोषादिदोष-निरूपणम्

On the Faults of Discontent and the Discipline of Detachment

Devanagari script

पन्थानौ पितृयानश्व देवयानश्व विश्रुतौ । ईजाना: पितृयानेन देवयानेन मोक्षिण:

Transliteration

panthānau pitṛyānaś ca devayānaś ca viśrutau | ījānāḥ pitṛyānena devayānena mokṣiṇaḥ ||

Translation

യുധിഷ്ഠിരൻ പറഞ്ഞു—പിതൃയാനം, ദേവയാനം എന്നിങ്ങനെ രണ്ട് മാർഗങ്ങൾ പ്രസിദ്ധമാണ്. പിതൃയാനപ്രകാരം യജ്ഞകർമ്മം ചെയ്യുന്നവർ പിതൃമാർഗം പ്രാപിക്കുന്നു; ദേവയാനത്തിലൂടെ പോകുന്നവർ മോക്ഷം പ്രാപിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

पन्थानौtwo paths

पितृयानःthe path of the Pitṛs (ancestral path)

चand

देवयानःthe path of the gods (divine path)

चand

विश्रुतौwell-known, renowned

ईजानाःworshipping / sacrificing

पितृयानेनby/through the ancestral path

देवयानेनby/through the divine path

मोक्षिणःseekers of liberation / those aiming at mokṣa

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

pitṛyāna

devayāna

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse distinguishes two classical spiritual trajectories: pitṛyāna, linked with sacrificial/ritual merit and the ancestral realm, and devayāna, linked with the higher divine course culminating in liberation (mokṣa). It frames ethical-spiritual choice as a choice of path shaped by one’s practice and aim.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and ultimate good, Yudhiṣṭhira raises a doctrinal point about the well-known ‘two paths’ taught in śāstric tradition, contrasting outcomes for ritual performers and those who follow the divine path toward release.