Shloka 3
Ātma-saṃyama-dharma: One-pointedness of Mind and Senses (शुक–व्यास संवादः)
वेदे वचनमुक्तं तु कुरु कर्म त्यजेति च । कथमेतद् विजानीयां तच्च व्याख्यातुमरहसि
vede vacanam uktaṃ tu kuru karma tyajeti ca | katham etad vijānīyāṃ tac ca vyākhyātum arhasi ||
ਵੇਦ ਵਿੱਚ ‘ਕਰਮ ਕਰੋ’ ਅਤੇ ‘ਕਰਮ ਤਿਆਗੋ’—ਦੋਵੇਂ ਹੀ ਆਖਿਆ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ। ਮੈਂ ਇਸ ਦਾ ਭਾਵ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਸਮਝਾਂ, ਤਾਂ ਜੋ ਵਿਰੋਧ ਦੂਰ ਹੋ ਜਾਵੇ? ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਿਰਪਾ ਕਰਕੇ ਇਸ ਦੀ ਵਿਆਖਿਆ ਕਰੋ।
शुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a classic interpretive problem: the Veda appears to command both engagement in duty (karma) and renunciation (tyāga). Śuka asks for a principled explanation that reconciles these teachings rather than treating them as mutually exclusive.
Śuka, as the speaker, poses a doctrinal question to a teacher/elder in the Śānti Parva discourse setting, requesting clarification on how to understand seemingly opposing Vedic directives about action and renunciation.