Shloka 5
Śrī–Indra–Bali Saṃvāda: The Departure and Fourfold Placement of Lakṣmī
स तेषां प्रेत्यभावे च प्रेत्यजातौ विनिश्षये । आगमस्थ: स भूयिष्ठमात्मतत्त्वे न तुष्यति
sa teṣāṃ pretyabhāve ca pretyajātau viniśṣaye | āgamasthaḥ sa bhūyiṣṭham ātmatattve na tuṣyati ||
毗湿摩说：尽管那些师者依凭经典的权威，已对“身坏命终之后我（我性、我灵）是否仍存、离身之后是否复生”作出了确定的结论，阇那提婆王却仍难从他们关于“自我真理”的陈述中获得满足。国王的不满足昭示着一种伦理与哲学上的迫切：若不能导向对灵魂本性以及生死之道德意义的清明洞见，单有教义上的笃定终究不足。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that authoritative, scripture-based conclusions about post-death existence and rebirth may still fail to satisfy a sincere seeker unless they illuminate ātmatattva—directly clarifying the nature of the Self and its moral implications.
Bhishma reports that various teachers had offered definitive, āgama-based views on whether the jīva persists after death and whether it is reborn; yet King Janadeva remained unconvinced and unsatisfied with their accounts of the Self’s true nature.