Shloka 10
Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)
किं च ब्रह्मा च रुद्रश्न शक्रश्न बलभित् प्रभु:
kiṁ ca brahmā ca rudraś ca śakraś ca balabhit prabhuḥ | sūryaḥ tārāpatiś candraḥ vāyur agnir varuṇaḥ kham pṛthivī ca ye cāvaśiṣṭā devāḥ proktāḥ te sarve kim paramātmanā racitaṁ svaṁ mokṣamārgaṁ na jānanti | yena niścalaṁ kṣayaśūnyaṁ cāvināśi mārgaṁ nāśrayanti ||
Sinabi ni Janamejaya: “At paano naman sina Brahmā, Rudra, Śakra (Indra), ang makapangyarihang pumatay kay Bala, at si Sūrya; si Soma, ang panginoon ng mga bituin; sina Vāyu, Agni, Varuṇa; pati ang kalawakan at ang lupa—at ang iba pang mga diyos na nabanggit: hindi ba nila nalalaman ang landas ng paglaya na hinubog ng Kataas-taasang Sarili para sa sarili nilang pagkaligtas? Kaya ba hindi sila sumisilong sa landas na di-nagagalaw, di-naluluma, at di-nasisira?”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the highest cosmic powers and deities are questioned in relation to liberation: true mokṣa depends on knowing and taking refuge in the imperishable path grounded in the Paramātman, not merely on status, power, or cosmic function.
In the Śānti Parva’s discourse on liberation, King Janamejaya presses the teacher by asking whether major gods—Brahmā, Rudra, Indra and others—know the Supreme Self’s path to mokṣa, and if not, why they do not resort to that steady, undecaying, imperishable way.