Shloka 13
एकान्तिधर्म-प्रश्नः (Inquiry into Ekāntin Dharma) / The Origin and Practice of Single-Pointed Nārāyaṇa-Centered Discipline
युधिछिर उवाच अनिन्द्रिया निराहारा अनिष्पन्दा: सुगन्धिन: । कथं ते पुरुषा जाता: का तेषां गतिरुत्तमा
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca
anindriyā nirāhārā aniṣpandāḥ sugandhinaḥ |
kathaṃ te puruṣā jātāḥ kā teṣāṃ gatir uttamā ||
یُدھشٹھِر نے پوچھا—اے پِتامہ! شویت دیوپ میں رہنے والے مرد کیوں حواس کے کاروبار سے بے نیاز، غذا سے بے محتاج اور حرکت سے بے جنبش بتائے جاتے ہیں؟ ان کے جسم سے خوشگوار خوشبو کیوں نکلتی ہے؟ وہ کیسے پیدا ہوئے، اور وہ کون سی اعلیٰ ترین گتی (منزل) کو پہنچتے ہیں؟
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an inquiry into a higher mode of existence: beings who are not driven by sensory engagement, bodily appetites, or restless activity, yet exhibit purity (symbolized by fragrance). It points toward the ideal of transcendence—freedom from sense-compulsion and dependence—culminating in a ‘supreme gati,’ i.e., the highest spiritual destination.
In the Śānti Parva dialogue, Yudhiṣṭhira questions Bhīṣma (the Grandsire) about the extraordinary inhabitants of Śvetadvīpa: why they are described as sense-free, food-free, motionless, and fragrant, how they originated, and what ultimate state they attain.