Shloka 38

Devanagari script

मोक्षे हि त्रिविधा निष्ठा दृष्टान्यैमो क्षवित्तमै: । ज्ञानं लोकोत्तरं यच्च सर्वत्यागश्न॒ कर्मणाम्‌,अलौकिक जो ज्ञान है, अलौकिक जो संन्यास है तथा जो कर्मोंका अलौकिक अनुष्ठान है अर्थात्‌ निष्काम भावसे कर्मोका करना है--इन तीन प्रकारकी निष्ठाओंको ही मोक्षवेत्ता विद्वानोंने मोक्षका उपाय देखा और समझा है

Transliteration

janaka uvāca | mokṣe hi trividhā niṣṭhā dṛṣṭā nyaiḥ mokṣavittamaiḥ | jñānaṁ lokottaraṁ yac ca sarvatyāgaś ca karmaṇām ||

Translation

جنک نے کہا—اہلِ موکش میں سے برگزیدہ لوگوں نے موکش تک پہنچانے والی استقامت کو تین طرح کا جانا ہے: (۱) ماورائے عالم علم، (۲) اعمال کا کلی ترک، اور (۳) بےتعلقی کے ساتھ عمل کی انجام دہی۔ یہی وہ طریقے ہیں جو انسان کو دنیاوی حدوں سے پرے آزادی کی طرف لے جاتے ہیں۔

Word by Word

• {'mokṣe': 'in liberation

• with regard to moksha', 'hi': 'indeed, certainly', 'trividhā': 'threefold', 'niṣṭhā': 'steadfast commitment

• firm path', 'dṛṣṭā': 'seen, recognized, ascertained', 'nyaiḥ': 'by others

• by the wise (instrumental plural)', 'mokṣavittamaiḥ': 'by the best knowers of moksha (mokṣa-vit-tama)', 'jñānam': 'knowledge

• liberating insight', 'lokottaram': 'beyond the world

• transcendent, supra-mundane', 'yat ca': 'and which', 'sarvatyāgaḥ': 'complete abandonment

• total renunciation', 'karmaṇām': 'of actions

Speaker

जनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Janaka

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Liberation is approached through three recognized disciplines: (1) lokottara-jñāna—transcendent knowledge that uproots ignorance; (2) sarva-tyāga—complete renunciation of actions (as a life-orientation of withdrawal); and (3) the complementary ideal often paired with this teaching—acting without attachment (niṣkāma-karma), where deeds are performed without egoistic claim or craving for results.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s reflective instruction, King Janaka speaks as a paradigmatic philosopher-king. He summarizes what authoritative knowers of moksha have concluded: that seekers may be firmly established in different but valid modes of practice—knowledge, renunciation, and disciplined action free from attachment—each oriented toward the same goal of liberation.