Shloka 13
एकान्तिधर्म-प्रश्नः (Inquiry into Ekāntin Dharma) / The Origin and Practice of Single-Pointed Nārāyaṇa-Centered Discipline
युधिछिर उवाच अनिन्द्रिया निराहारा अनिष्पन्दा: सुगन्धिन: । कथं ते पुरुषा जाता: का तेषां गतिरुत्तमा
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca
anindriyā nirāhārā aniṣpandāḥ sugandhinaḥ |
kathaṃ te puruṣā jātāḥ kā teṣāṃ gatir uttamā ||
Юдхиштхира сказал: «О Прадед, о жителях Шветадвипы говорят, что они лишены деятельности чувств, не нуждаются в пище и не совершают телесных движений, и всё же источают приятное благоухание. Как возникли такие существа и какова высшая цель, высшее состояние, которого они достигают?»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an inquiry into a higher mode of existence: beings who are not driven by sensory engagement, bodily appetites, or restless activity, yet exhibit purity (symbolized by fragrance). It points toward the ideal of transcendence—freedom from sense-compulsion and dependence—culminating in a ‘supreme gati,’ i.e., the highest spiritual destination.
In the Śānti Parva dialogue, Yudhiṣṭhira questions Bhīṣma (the Grandsire) about the extraordinary inhabitants of Śvetadvīpa: why they are described as sense-free, food-free, motionless, and fragrant, how they originated, and what ultimate state they attain.