Shloka 14
Adhyātma-nirdeśa
Definition of Adhyātma): Mahābhūtas, Indriyas, Guṇas, and the Witness (Kṣetrajña
छिन्नस्य यदि वृक्षस्य न मूलं प्रतिरोहति । बीजान्यस्य प्रवर्तन्ते मृत: क्व पुनरेष्यति
chinnasya yadi vṛkṣasya na mūlaṃ pratirohati | bījāny asya pravartante mṛtaḥ kva punareṣyati ||
Kung ang punongkahoy ay naputol at ang ugat nito’y hindi na muling tumutubo—tanging mga binhi lamang ang sumisibol sa ibang dako—saan magmumula ang pagbabalik ng taong namatay?
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a natural analogy to challenge the idea that a dead person returns in the same way: a cut tree does not re-grow from its severed root; only its seeds generate new growth. Bharadvāja is pressing for a rational account of continuity after death—whether ‘return’ is possible, and if so, on what principle.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical discussions, Bharadvāja raises a skeptical question about post-mortem return. By comparing human death to a tree cut at the root, he argues that observable nature suggests cessation rather than literal return, thereby prompting a deeper reply about soul, karma, or rebirth.