Shloka 1
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
ऑपन--मा जल बछ। जज: एकाधिकंत्रेशततमो<ध्याय: सांख्ययोगके अनुसार साधन और उसके फलका वर्णन युधिछिर उवाच सम्यक् त्वया<यं नृपते वर्णित: शिष्टसम्मत: । योगमार्गो यथान्यायं शिष्यायेह हितैषिणा
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: ki tad akṣaram ity uktaṁ yasmān nāvartate punaḥ? ki ca tat kṣaram ity uktaṁ yasmād āvartate punaḥ?
युधिष्ठिर उवाच— किं तदक्षरमित्युक्तं यस्मान्नावर्तते पुनः? किं च तत्क्षरमित्युक्तं यस्मादावर्तते पुनः?
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a key liberation inquiry: distinguishing the imperishable (akṣara)—that knowledge of which ends rebirth—from the perishable (kṣara), attachment to which sustains return to saṁsāra. It sets up a metaphysical and soteriological contrast central to Sāṅkhya-Yoga discussions in the Mokṣa-dharma section.
In the Mokṣa-dharma discourse of Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira, as a student seeking release and clarity, asks his teacher to define two fundamental categories—akṣara and kṣara—and to explain why one leads beyond return while the other leads to repeated return.