Shloka 3

Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse

Devanagari script

अनीथ्चवर:ः कथं मुच्येदित्येवं शत्रुकर्शन । वदन्ति कारणै: श्रैष्ठ्यं योगा: सम्पड्मनीषिण:

Transliteration

Bhīṣma uvāca: anīśvarāḥ kathaṁ mucyed ity evaṁ śatrukarśana | vadanti kāraṇaiḥ śraiṣṭhyaṁ yogāḥ sampad-manīṣiṇaḥ ||

Translation

பீஷ்மர் கூறினார்—எதிரிகளை அடக்குவோனே! யோகத்தின் மெய்யறிவாளர்கள் தங்கள் கொள்கையின் மேன்மையை நிறுவ இவ்வாறு வாதிடுவர்—‘ஈசுவரனை ஏற்காதவன் எவ்வாறு விடுதலை பெறுவான்?’ இவ்விதம், மோக்ஷத்திற்குப் பரமேசுவரனின் இருப்பை ஏற்றுக்கொள்வது அவசியம் என அவர்கள் நிலைநாட்டுகின்றனர்.

Word by Word

• {'Bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'anīśvarāḥ': 'those who deny the Lord

• non-theists (lit. ‘without Īśvara’)', 'katham': 'how?', 'mucyet': 'could be liberated

• would attain release (from saṁsāra)', 'iti evaṁ': 'thus

• in this manner', 'śatrukarśana': 'O crusher/subduer of enemies (vocative address)', 'vadanti': 'they say

• they maintain', 'kāraṇaiḥ': 'with reasons

• by arguments', 'śraiṣṭhyam': 'superiority

• excellence', 'yogāḥ': 'yogic paths/doctrines

• disciplines leading to liberation', 'sampad-manīṣiṇaḥ': 'accomplished/competent sages

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Īśvara (the Lord)
• śatrukarśana (address to the listener, traditionally Yudhiṣṭhira)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a theistic argument: liberation (moksha) is not possible for one who rejects Īśvara; learned proponents of yoga claim their view is superior because it acknowledges a Lord as essential to release.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to the king, Bhīṣma reports the reasoning used by certain yogic thinkers: they challenge non-theistic positions by asking how liberation could occur without accepting the existence of a supreme Lord.