Shloka 8
Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)
मोक्षश्नोक्तस्त्वया ब्रह्मन् निर्वाणं परमं सुखम् । ये तु मुक्ता भवन्तीह पुण्यपापविवर्जिता:
mokṣaś ca uktaḥ tvayā brahman nirvāṇaṁ paramaṁ sukham | ye tu muktā bhavantīha puṇyapāpa-vivarjitāḥ ||
Vua Janamejaya thưa: “Bạch Bà-la-môn, ngài đã giảng cho trẫm về sự giải thoát—niết-bàn, niềm an lạc tối thượng. Nhưng những ai được giải thoát ngay tại đời này, lìa cả công đức lẫn tội lỗi—thì cảnh giới của họ ra sao?”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation (mokṣa) is presented as nirvāṇa—the supreme happiness—and it is characterized by transcendence of karmic dualities: the liberated are described as beyond both merit (puṇya) and sin (pāpa), pointing to a state where action’s binding results no longer apply.
Janamejaya, having heard the sage’s account of mokṣa as the highest bliss, presses further with a clarifying question: he asks about the nature or status of those who attain liberation in this very context—specifically those said to be free from both puṇya and pāpa.