Shloka 2
Sanatsujāta-Āhvāna (Summoning Sanatsujāta) — Vidura’s Invocation and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Doubt
धृतराष्ट उवाच सनत्सुजात यदिदं शृणोमि न मृत्युरस्तीति तव प्रवादम् । देवासुरा ह्याचरन् ब्रह्मचर्य- ममृत्यवे तत् कतरन्नु सत्यम्
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | sanatsujāta yad idaṁ śṛṇomi na mṛtyur astīti tava pravādam | devāsurā hy ācaran brahmacaryam amṛtyave tat kataran nu satyam ||
Sinabi ni Dhṛtarāṣṭra: “Sanatsujāta, naririnig ko ang aral mo na ang kamatayan ay hindi tunay na umiiral. Ngunit naririnig ko rin na ang mga deva at mga asura ay nagsagawa ng brahmacarya upang makalaya sa kamatayan. Sa dalawang salaysay na ito, alin ang katotohanan?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical problem: if death is ultimately unreal (or not absolute), why would even gods and asuras undertake strict brahmacarya to attain deathlessness? It sets up Sanatsujāta’s teaching that ‘death’ is tied to ignorance, delusion, and moral-spiritual lapse, while ‘deathlessness’ is linked to knowledge and disciplined living.
In the Udyoga Parva, Dhṛtarāṣṭra questions the sage Sanatsujāta. Troubled and seeking clarity, he contrasts two reports—Sanatsujāta’s claim that death is not ultimately real, and the tradition that gods and asuras practiced brahmacarya to escape death—and asks which should be accepted as true.