Shloka 2
भिक्षुलक्षणम्—एकचर्याः, अहिंसा, कैवल्याश्रमः
Marks of the Mendicant: Solitary Wandering, Non-Injury, and the Kaivalya-Discipline
शुक उवाच कि तज्ज्ञानमथो विद्या यथा निस्तरते द्वयम् प्रवृत्तिलक्षणो धर्मो निवृत्तिरेति वा वद,शुकदेवजीने पूछा--पिताजी! जिसके द्वारा मनुष्य जन्म और मृत्यु दोनोंके बन्धनसे छुटकारा पा जाता है, वह ज्ञान अथवा विद्या क्या है? वह प्रवृत्तिरूप धर्म है या निवृत्तिरूप? यह मुझे बताइये
śuka uvāca: ki taj jñānam atho vidyā yathā nistarate dvayam? pravṛtti-lakṣaṇo dharmo nivṛttir eti vā vada.
ശുകൻ പറഞ്ഞു—പിതാവേ! ഏത് ജ്ഞാനം അല്ലെങ്കിൽ വിദ്യയാൽ മനുഷ്യൻ ജനനം–മരണം എന്ന ഇരട്ടബന്ധനം കടന്നുപോകുന്നു? പറയുക—അത് പ്രവൃത്തിലക്ഷണ ധർമ്മമാണോ, അല്ലെങ്കിൽ നിവൃത്തിയുടെ (വിരക്തി/ത്യാഗ) മാർഗമാണോ?
शुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a central inquiry of Indian ethics and soteriology: which kind of wisdom truly liberates from saṃsāra (the cycle marked by birth and death)—the dharma of active engagement (pravṛtti) or the dharma of renunciation (nivṛtti). It sets up a discussion on the relative roles of action, duty, and withdrawal in attaining liberation.
Śuka, in dialogue with his father (traditionally Vyāsa), asks for clarification about the liberating knowledge. He requests a decisive explanation of whether the path to transcend birth and death is primarily through worldly duty and action-oriented dharma or through renunciant withdrawal.