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,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--पितामह! श्वेतद्वीपमें रहनेवाले पुरुष इन्द्रिय, आहार, तथा चेष्टासे रहित क्यों होते हैं? उनके शरीरसे सुन्दर गन्ध क्यों निकलती है? उनकी उत्पत्ति किस प्रकार हुई है तथा वे किस उत्तम गतिको प्राप्त होते हैं?
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca
anindriyā nirāhārā aniṣpandāḥ sugandhinaḥ |
kathaṃ te puruṣā jātāḥ kā teṣāṃ gatir uttamā ||
युधिष्ठिर उवाच—पितामह! श्वेतद्वीपनिवासिनः पुरुषा अनिन्द्रियाः निराहाराः अनिष्पन्दाश्च कथं भवन्ति? तेषां गात्रेभ्यः सुसुगन्धिः कुतः प्रवहति? कथं ते जाताḥ, का च तेषां उत्तमा गतिः?
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.