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 ||
由提施提罗说道：“噢，祖父啊！居于白岛的人被描述为无诸根之动，不需饮食，亦无身之动作，却又散发怡人芬芳。他们如何得以成就如此？他们所证得的最高归趣与境界又是什么？”
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.