Shloka 26
Nārāyaṇopadeśa to Mārkaṇḍeya (Cosmic Self-Identification and Yuga Doctrine) | नारायणोपदेशः
ताक्ष्य उवाच इदं श्रेय: परमं मन्यमाना व्यायच्छन्ते मुनयः सम्प्रतीता: । आचक्ष्व मे तं परमं विशोक॑ मोक्ष परं यं प्रविशन्ति धीरा: । सांख्या योगा परम॑ यं विदन्ति परं पुराणं तमहं न वेझि,ताक्ष्यने पूछा--देवि! जिसे परम कल्याणस्वरूप मानते हुए मुनिजन अत्यन्त विश्वासपूर्वक इन्द्रियों आदिका निग्रह करते हैं तथा जिस परम मोक्ष-स्वरूपमें धीर पुरुष प्रवेश करते हैं, उस शोकरहित परम मोक्षपदका वर्णन करो; क्योंकि जिस परम मोक्षपदको सांख्ययोगी और कर्मयोगी जानते हैं, उस सनातन मोक्ष-तत्त्वको मैं नही जानता
tākṣya uvāca idaṁ śreyaḥ paramaṁ manyamānā vyāyacchante munayaḥ sampratītāḥ | ācakṣva me taṁ paramaṁ viśokaṁ mokṣa-paraṁ yaṁ praviśanti dhīrāḥ | sāṅkhyā yogā paramaṁ yaṁ vidanti paraṁ purāṇaṁ tam ahaṁ na vedi ||
Tākṣya disse: “Os sábios, firmemente convictos, refreiam os sentidos e tudo o mais, tomando isso por bem supremo. Fala-me desse estado supremo, sem dor nem lamento — a libertação mais alta — no qual entram os perseverantes. Essa realidade antiga e derradeira, que os seguidores do Sāṅkhya e do Yoga conhecem como suprema, eu não a conheço; por isso, descreve-ma.”
ताक्ष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames liberation (mokṣa) as the highest good (śreyas), attained through disciplined restraint of the senses and inner steadiness. It also presents Sāṅkhya and Yoga as respected paths that converge on knowledge of a single ‘ancient, supreme’ reality, emphasizing that true freedom is a sorrowless state entered by the wise.
Tākṣya, acknowledging his own lack of direct knowledge, questions a divine interlocutor (“Devi” in the accompanying gloss) and asks for an explanation of the supreme, sorrowless liberation that sages seek through self-control and that the steadfast are said to attain—known to practitioners of Sāṅkhya and Yoga.