Shloka 30

नारद–शुक संवादः

Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga

Devanagari script

महर्षि याज्ञवल्क्यके स्मरणसे देवी सरस्वतीका प्राकट्य वेद्यावेद्यं तथा राजन्नचलं चलमेव च । अपूर्वमक्षयं क्षय्यमेतत्‌ प्रश्नमनुत्तमम्‌

Transliteration

yājñavalkya uvāca | maharṣi-yājñavalkya-smaraṇena devī sarasvatī-prākaṭyam | vedyāvedyaṃ tathā rājan acalaṃ calam eva ca | apūrvam akṣayaṃ kṣayyam etat praśnam anuttamam ||

Translation

याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच— “राजन्, महर्षेः याज्ञवल्क्यस्य स्मरणेन देवी सरस्वती प्रादुर्भवति। अधुना पृच्छ्यन्ते परमोत्तमाः प्रश्नाः— किं वेद्यम्, किं चावेद्यम्? किं चलम्, किं चाचलम्? किमपूर्वम्? किमक्षयम्? किं च क्षय्यम्?”

Word by Word

• {'याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच (yājñavalkya uvāca)': 'Yājñavalkya said', 'महर्षि (maharṣi)': 'great seer', 'स्मरण (smaraṇa)': 'remembrance, recollection', 'देवी सरस्वती (devī sarasvatī)': 'the goddess Sarasvatī, deity of speech/learning', 'प्राकट्य (prākaṭya)': 'manifestation, becoming evident', 'वेद्य (vedya)': 'knowable, that which can be known', 'अवेद्य (avedya)': 'unknowable, beyond cognition', 'राजन् (rājan)': 'O King (vocative)', 'चल (cala)': 'moving, changeful', 'अचल (acala)': 'unmoving, stable', 'अपूर्व (apūrva)': 'unprecedented, not previously encountered

• also ‘unique/novel’', 'अक्षय (akṣaya)': 'imperishable, undecaying', 'क्षय्य (kṣayya)': 'perishable, liable to decay', 'प्रश्न (praśna)': 'question', 'अनुत्तम (anuttama)': 'unsurpassed, supreme'}

Speaker

याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• याज्ञवल्क्य (Yājñavalkya)
• सरस्वती (Sarasvatī)
• राजन् (the King, unnamed addressee)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a ruler’s highest inquiry as discernment between categories: what can be known versus what lies beyond, what changes versus what is stable, and what perishes versus what endures. It redirects attention from external control to inner clarity—suggesting that wise governance and ethical life depend on understanding impermanence and the truly imperishable.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yājñavalkya addresses a king and introduces a set of ‘unsurpassed’ philosophical questions. The mention of Sarasvatī’s manifestation through remembrance signals an invocation of inspired speech and learning, preparing the ground for a didactic discussion characteristic of the Śānti Parva.