Shloka 65
यक्ष उवाच को35तिथि: सर्वभूतानां किंस्विद् धर्म सनातनम् | अमृतं किंस्विद् राजेन्द्र किंस्वित् सर्वमिदं जगत्
yakṣa uvāca | ko ’tithiḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ kiṃsvid dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ | amṛtaṃ kiṃsvid rājendra kiṃsvid sarvam idaṃ jagat |
Yakṣa hỏi: “Hỡi bậc vương giả, ai là vị ‘khách’ của muôn loài? Thế nào là Dharma vĩnh cửu (Sanātana Dharma)? Điều gì được gọi là ‘bất tử’ (amṛta)? Và rốt cuộc, toàn thể thế gian này là gì?”
यक्ष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a set of foundational ethical and metaphysical inquiries: universal hospitality (atithi), the nature of eternal Dharma, the meaning of true ‘immortality’ (amṛta), and the ontological status of the world (jagat). It prepares the listener for answers that connect right conduct with insight into life’s impermanence and the deeper reality sustaining it.
In the Yaksha–Prashna episode of the Vana Parva, the Yaksha interrogates the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) with probing questions. This verse is one cluster of those questions, testing his understanding of duty, hospitality, life’s highest good, and the nature of the world before granting boons and restoring what has been lost.