Shloka 38

Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

मोक्षे हि त्रिविधा निष्ठा दृष्टान्यैमो क्षवित्तमै: । ज्ञानं लोकोत्तरं यच्च सर्वत्यागश्न॒ कर्मणाम्‌,अलौकिक जो ज्ञान है, अलौकिक जो संन्यास है तथा जो कर्मोंका अलौकिक अनुष्ठान है अर्थात्‌ निष्काम भावसे कर्मोका करना है--इन तीन प्रकारकी निष्ठाओंको ही मोक्षवेत्ता विद्वानोंने मोक्षका उपाय देखा और समझा है

Transliteration

janaka uvāca | mokṣe hi trividhā niṣṭhā dṛṣṭā nyaiḥ mokṣavittamaiḥ | jñānaṁ lokottaraṁ yac ca sarvatyāgaś ca karmaṇām ||

Translation

जनक म्हणाले—मोक्षवेत्त्यांतील श्रेष्ठांनी मोक्षसाधक निष्ठा तीन प्रकारची सांगितली आहे: (१) लोकोत्तर ज्ञान, (२) कर्मांचा सर्वथा त्याग, आणि (३) आसक्तिरहित भावाने कर्माचे अनुष्ठान. ह्याच निष्ठा लोकातीत मुक्तीकडे नेणाऱ्या मानल्या आहेत.

Word by Word

• {'mokṣe': 'in liberation

• with regard to moksha', 'hi': 'indeed, certainly', 'trividhā': 'threefold', 'niṣṭhā': 'steadfast commitment

• firm path', 'dṛṣṭā': 'seen, recognized, ascertained', 'nyaiḥ': 'by others

• by the wise (instrumental plural)', 'mokṣavittamaiḥ': 'by the best knowers of moksha (mokṣa-vit-tama)', 'jñānam': 'knowledge

• liberating insight', 'lokottaram': 'beyond the world

• transcendent, supra-mundane', 'yat ca': 'and which', 'sarvatyāgaḥ': 'complete abandonment

• total renunciation', 'karmaṇām': 'of actions

Speaker

जनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Janaka

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Liberation is approached through three recognized disciplines: (1) lokottara-jñāna—transcendent knowledge that uproots ignorance; (2) sarva-tyāga—complete renunciation of actions (as a life-orientation of withdrawal); and (3) the complementary ideal often paired with this teaching—acting without attachment (niṣkāma-karma), where deeds are performed without egoistic claim or craving for results.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s reflective instruction, King Janaka speaks as a paradigmatic philosopher-king. He summarizes what authoritative knowers of moksha have concluded: that seekers may be firmly established in different but valid modes of practice—knowledge, renunciation, and disciplined action free from attachment—each oriented toward the same goal of liberation.