Shanti Parva Adhyaya 218 Shloka 5 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

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Shloka 5

Śrī–Indra–Bali Saṃvāda: The Departure and Fourfold Placement of Lakṣmī

Devanagari script

स तेषां प्रेत्यभावे च प्रेत्यजातौ विनिश्षये । आगमस्थ: स भूयिष्ठमात्मतत्त्वे न तुष्यति

Transliteration

sa teṣāṃ pretyabhāve ca pretyajātau viniśṣaye | āgamasthaḥ sa bhūyiṣṭham ātmatattve na tuṣyati ||

Translation

स तेषां प्रेत्यभावे च प्रेत्यजातौ विनिश्शये । आगमस्थः स भूयिष्ठमात्मतत्त्वे न तुष्यति ॥

Word by Word

सःhe (that person/king)

तेषाम्of them

प्रेत्यभावेin the state after death (post-mortem existence/non-existence)

चand

प्रेत्यजातौin rebirth after death (post-death birth)

विनिश्षयेin the settled conclusion/decision

आगमस्थःstanding on scripture/tradition; scripturally grounded

सःhe

भूयिष्ठम्greatly; exceedingly; for the most part

आत्मतत्त्वेin the truth/principle of the Self

नnot

तुष्यतिis satisfied; is content

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

King Janadeva

ācāryas (teachers)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that authoritative, scripture-based conclusions about post-death existence and rebirth may still fail to satisfy a sincere seeker unless they illuminate ātmatattva—directly clarifying the nature of the Self and its moral implications.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma reports that various teachers had offered definitive, āgama-based views on whether the jīva persists after death and whether it is reborn; yet King Janadeva remained unconvinced and unsatisfied with their accounts of the Self’s true nature.