Shloka 25
Sanatsujāta on Vedic Learning, Truth (Satya), and the Discipline of Dama–Tyāga–Apramāda
ध्तराष्ट्र रवाच आभाति शुक्लमिव लोहितमिवाथो कृष्णमथाज्जनं काद्रवं वा । सद्ब्रह्मण: पश्यति योअत्र विद्वान् कथं रूप॑ं तदमृतमक्षरं पदम्,धृतराष्ट्र बोले--विद्वान् पुरुष यहाँ सत्यस्वरूप परमात्माके जिस अमृत एवं अविनाशी परमपदका साक्षात्कार करते हैं, उसका रूप कैसा है? क्या वह सफेद-सा, लाल-सा, काजल-सा काला या सुवर्ण-जैसे पीले रंगका प्रतीत होता है?
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | ābhāti śuklam iva lohitam ivātho kṛṣṇam athāñjanaṁ kādravaṁ vā | sad-brahmaṇaḥ paśyati yo ’tra vidvān kathaṁ rūpaṁ tad amṛtam akṣaraṁ padam ||
धृतराष्ट्र उवाच—सद्ब्रह्मणो यद् अमृतम् अक्षरं परं पदं विद्वान् अत्र पश्यति, तस्य किं रूपम्? शुक्लमिव वा लोहितमिव वा कृष्णमिव वा, अथवा काञ्चनवर्णं काद्रवं वा प्रतिभाति?
सनत्सुजात उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a key Vedāntic inquiry: ultimate reality (Brahman), realized by the wise, is not to be reduced to sensory qualities like color. By asking whether the supreme, deathless state appears white/red/black/golden, Dhṛtarāṣṭra highlights the tension between sense-based description and the imperishable, transcendent nature of Brahman—setting up Sanatsujāta’s clarification that true realization surpasses ordinary perception.
In the Udyoga Parva dialogue, Dhṛtarāṣṭra questions the sage Sanatsujāta about the nature of the highest reality. Here he asks what the realized ‘immortal, imperishable supreme state’ looks like—whether it has any visible color—seeking a concrete description of an otherwise subtle spiritual attainment.