Shloka 4

Śuka–Janaka Saṃvāda: Āśrama-krama, Jñāna-vijñāna, and the Marks of Liberation (शुक-जनक संवादः)

Devanagari script

हस्तावध्यात्ममित्याहुर्यथा संख्यानदर्शिन: । कर्तव्यमधिभूतं तु इन्द्रस्तत्राधिदिवतम्‌

Transliteration

hastāv adhyātmam ity āhur yathā saṅkhyānadarśinaḥ | kartavyam adhibhūtaṃ tu indras tatrādhidaivatam ||

Translation

யாஜ்ஞவல்க்யர் கூறினார்—பகுப்பறிவை (சாங்க்யம்) உணர்ந்தோர் சொல்வது: இரு கைகளும் அத்யாத்மம்; செய்ய வேண்டிய செயல் அதிபூதம்; அங்கே இந்திரன் அதிதைவதம்.

Word by Word

हस्तौthe two hands

अध्यात्मम्the adhyātma (inner/spiritual principle)

इतिthus

आहुःthey say

यथाas / according to

संख्यानदर्शिनःthose who see/know the enumeration (Sāṅkhya seers)

कर्तव्यम्what is to be done / duty

अधिभूतम्the adhibhūta (elemental/physical principle)

तुbut / however

इन्द्रःIndra

तत्रthere / in that context

अधिदैवतम्the adhidaivata (presiding divine principle)

Speaker

याज़्वल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yājñavalkya

Indra

hands (hastau)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse maps experience into three correlated registers: (1) adhyātma—the inner, subjective basis (here, the hands as faculties of action within the embodied self); (2) adhibhūta—the objective field where actions and duties are carried out (the ‘to-be-done’ act); and (3) adhidaivata—the presiding divine principle that governs or empowers that function (Indra). This framework ethically situates action: duty is performed in the world, through inner faculties, under an ordering principle.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Yājñavalkya is explaining a classificatory doctrine used by ‘category-seers’ (saṅkhyāna-darśinaḥ). He identifies how a bodily faculty (hands), an action/duty (kartavya), and a deity (Indra) correspond across the adhyātma–adhibhūta–adhidaivata scheme.