Shloka 8
Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)
मोक्षश्नोक्तस्त्वया ब्रह्मन् निर्वाणं परमं सुखम् । ये तु मुक्ता भवन्तीह पुण्यपापविवर्जिता:
mokṣaś ca uktaḥ tvayā brahman nirvāṇaṁ paramaṁ sukham | ye tu muktā bhavantīha puṇyapāpa-vivarjitāḥ ||
Janamejaya disse: “Ó brâmane, explicaste-me a libertação — o nirvāṇa, a felicidade suprema. Mas aqueles que aqui se tornam libertos, isentos tanto de mérito quanto de pecado — qual é a sua condição?”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation (mokṣa) is presented as nirvāṇa—the supreme happiness—and it is characterized by transcendence of karmic dualities: the liberated are described as beyond both merit (puṇya) and sin (pāpa), pointing to a state where action’s binding results no longer apply.
Janamejaya, having heard the sage’s account of mokṣa as the highest bliss, presses further with a clarifying question: he asks about the nature or status of those who attain liberation in this very context—specifically those said to be free from both puṇya and pāpa.