Shloka 66
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
शुक्ल: शुक्लाभिजातीय: साध्यो नावर्ततेडनघ । तिर्यग्गतेश्व निर्मुक्तो निरयाच्च पितामह
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
śuklaḥ śuklābhijātīyaḥ sādhyo nāvartate 'nagha |
tiryaggateṣv anirmukto nirayāc ca pitāmaha ||
युधिष्ठिर उवाच—अनघ पितामह! स शुक्लः शुक्लाभिजातीयः स्वभावशुद्धश्च। स खलु साध्यदेव एव; तस्मात् पुनः संसारं नावर्तते। स तिर्यग्योनिभ्यः पक्षिजन्मभ्यश्च निरयाच्च विमुक्तः, पितामह।
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Purity of conduct and accumulated merit can lead to freedom from lower rebirths (animal/bird births) and from hellish states; exceptionally, one may be understood as having a divine status (Sādhya), implying non-return to saṃsāra.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Bhīṣma, reflecting on a person named Śukla: he was pure by birth and nature, and Yudhiṣṭhira infers that he was a Sādhya deity, hence he does not return to worldly existence and is freed from animal births and hell.