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,यदि जड़से कटे हुए वृक्षका मूल फिर अंकुरित नहीं होता है, केवल उसके बीज ही जमते हैं, तब मरा हुआ मनुष्य फिर कहाँसे आ जायगा?
chinnasya yadi vṛkṣasya na mūlaṃ pratirohati | bījāny asya pravartante mṛtaḥ kva punareṣyati ||
اگر کٹے ہوئے درخت کی جڑ دوبارہ نہیں اگتی اور صرف اس کے بیج کہیں اور اُگتے ہیں، تو مرا ہوا انسان پھر کہاں سے واپس آئے گا؟
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.