Shloka 1
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
ऑपन--मा जल बछ। जज: एकाधिकंत्रेशततमो<ध्याय: सांख्ययोगके अनुसार साधन और उसके फलका वर्णन युधिछिर उवाच सम्यक् त्वया<यं नृपते वर्णित: शिष्टसम्मत: । योगमार्गो यथान्यायं शिष्यायेह हितैषिणा
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: ki tad akṣaram ity uktaṁ yasmān nāvartate punaḥ? ki ca tat kṣaram ity uktaṁ yasmād āvartate punaḥ?
Yudhiṣṭhira nói: “Điều gì được gọi là Bất Hoại (Akṣara)—biết được thì không còn trở lại nữa? Và điều gì được gọi là Hoại Diệt (Kṣara)—vì nó mà người ta lại phải trở lại lần nữa?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a key liberation inquiry: distinguishing the imperishable (akṣara)—that knowledge of which ends rebirth—from the perishable (kṣara), attachment to which sustains return to saṁsāra. It sets up a metaphysical and soteriological contrast central to Sāṅkhya-Yoga discussions in the Mokṣa-dharma section.
In the Mokṣa-dharma discourse of Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira, as a student seeking release and clarity, asks his teacher to define two fundamental categories—akṣara and kṣara—and to explain why one leads beyond return while the other leads to repeated return.