Mahabharata 3.2.15 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 2, Shloka 15

ब्राह्मणानुयात्रा—शौनकोपदेशः

Brāhmaṇas Follow into Exile and Śaunaka’s Instruction

Devanagari script

योगे सांख्ये च कुशलो राजानमिदमत्रवीत्‌

Transliteration

yoge sāṅkhye ca kuśalo rājānam idam atravīt | vaiśampāyana uvāca—rājan! itthaṁ uktvā dharmarāja yudhiṣṭhiraḥ śokamagnaḥ tūṣṇīṁ bhūmau niṣasāda | tadā adhyātmaviṣaye rataḥ paramātma-cintane tatparaḥ vidvān brāhmaṇaḥ śaunakaḥ, yaḥ karmayoga-sāṅkhyayoga-ubhayaniṣṭhā-vicāre pravīṇaḥ, rājānam evaṁ uvāca ||

Translation

योग आणि सांख्य—दोन्हींत कुशल असा शौनक नावाचा द्विज राजाला म्हणाला—“राजन्! ऐका; जे यथार्थ आहे तेच मी सांगतो.”

Word by Word

• {'yoga': 'discipline

• spiritual practice (here: karma-yoga as a path of action)', 'sāṅkhya': 'discriminative knowledge

• analytical doctrine (here: sāṅkhya-yoga as a path of insight)', 'kuśalaḥ': 'skilled

• proficient', 'rājānam': 'to the king', 'idam': 'this (statement)', 'atravīt (abravīt)': 'said

• spoke', 'rājan': 'O king (vocative)', 'dharmarāja': 'king devoted to dharma

• epithet of Yudhiṣṭhira', 'śokamagnaḥ': 'immersed in sorrow

• grief-stricken', 'tūṣṇīm': 'silently', 'bhūmau': 'on the ground/earth', 'niṣasāda': 'sat down', 'adhyātma': 'pertaining to the Self

• inner spirituality', 'paramātma-cintana': 'contemplation of the Supreme Self', 'vidvān': 'learned

• wise', 'brāhmaṇaḥ': 'a brāhmaṇa

• priestly scholar', 'śaunakaḥ': 'Śaunaka (name of the sage)', 'karmayoga': 'yoga of action

• disciplined action aligned with dharma', 'ubhayaniṣṭhā': 'both commitments/standpoints (of yoga and sāṅkhya)', 'pravīṇaḥ': 'expert

• highly competent', 'uvāca': 'said

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Yudhiṣṭhira (Dharmarāja)
• Śaunaka
• the King (rājan)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames ethical recovery from grief through wise counsel grounded in two complementary approaches: disciplined action (karma-yoga) and discriminative insight (sāṅkhya). When a ruler is paralyzed by sorrow, a spiritually trained teacher restores clarity by reconnecting him to dharma and inner steadiness.

What is happening in the narrative?

After speaking, Yudhiṣṭhira becomes grief-stricken, falls silent, and sits on the ground. At that moment the learned brāhmaṇa Śaunaka—devoted to inner spirituality and proficient in both karma-yoga and sāṅkhya—begins to address the king.