Shloka 16
अस्तित्वं केवलत्वं च विनाभावं तथैव च । दैवतानि च मे ब्रूहि देहं यान्याश्रितानि वै,आप पुरुषके अस्तित्व, केवलत्व और प्रकृतिसे पृथक सत्ताका स्पष्टीकरण कीजिये और देहका आश्रय ग्रहण करनेवाले जो देवता हैं, उनका तत्त्व भी मुझे समझाइये
astitvaṁ kevalatvaṁ ca vinābhāvaṁ tathaiva ca | daivatāni ca me brūhi dehaṁ yānyāśritāni vai ||
Janaka berkata: “Jelaskan kepadaku makna kewujudan, makna kesendirian mutlak, dan juga ketiadaan. Dan ceritakan pula kepadaku tentang para dewa yang bernaung pada tubuh—apakah hakikat sebenar mereka.”
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical inquiry: Janaka asks for clear definitions of being (astitva), radical independence or aloneness (kevalatva), and non-being/absence (vinābhāva), and seeks an account of the ‘deities’ associated with the body—often interpreted as the presiding principles behind the senses and vital functions—so that bodily experience can be understood without confusion about the Self.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, King Janaka, portrayed as a ruler devoted to wisdom, questions a teacher about subtle metaphysical categories and about the divine powers connected with embodied life, aiming to discern what truly belongs to the Self versus what belongs to the body and its faculties.