Shloka 10
Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)
किं च ब्रह्मा च रुद्रश्न शक्रश्न बलभित् प्रभु:
kiṁ ca brahmā ca rudraś ca śakraś ca balabhit prabhuḥ | sūryaḥ tārāpatiś candraḥ vāyur agnir varuṇaḥ kham pṛthivī ca ye cāvaśiṣṭā devāḥ proktāḥ te sarve kim paramātmanā racitaṁ svaṁ mokṣamārgaṁ na jānanti | yena niścalaṁ kṣayaśūnyaṁ cāvināśi mārgaṁ nāśrayanti ||
阇那美阇耶说道：“那么梵天、鲁陀罗、释迦（因陀罗）——那位强大神力、诛灭婆罗（Bala）者——以及日神苏利耶；又有苏摩——群星之主的月神；风神伐由、火神阿耆尼、水神伐楼那；乃至虚空与大地，以及所提及的其余诸天：难道他们都不知道由至上之我为其自身解脱而造就的解脱之道吗？因此他们才不归依那不动摇、无衰败、不可毁坏的道路吗？”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the highest cosmic powers and deities are questioned in relation to liberation: true mokṣa depends on knowing and taking refuge in the imperishable path grounded in the Paramātman, not merely on status, power, or cosmic function.
In the Śānti Parva’s discourse on liberation, King Janamejaya presses the teacher by asking whether major gods—Brahmā, Rudra, Indra and others—know the Supreme Self’s path to mokṣa, and if not, why they do not resort to that steady, undecaying, imperishable way.