Shloka 26

तृष्णाक्षय-उपदेशः

Instruction on the Cessation of Craving

Devanagari script

नानाशन:ः स्यान्न महाशन:ः स्या- दलोलुप: साधुभिरागत: स्यात्‌ | यात्रार्थभाहारमिहाददीत तथास्यथ स्याज्जाठरी द्वारगुप्ति:

Transliteration

nānāśanaḥ syān na mahāśanaḥ syād alolupaḥ sādhubhir āgataḥ syāt | yātrārthabhāhāram ihādadīta tathāsyatha syāj jāṭharī dvāraguptiḥ ||

Translation

يُعلِّم كابيلا اعتدالًا منضبطًا: لا يأكل المرء على غير نظام وبلا تمييز، ولا يفرط في الأكل؛ وليكن منزَّهًا عن الشره، ملازمًا لصحبة الصالحين. فإذا أخذ من القوت قدر ما تقوم به الحياة، صان «بوابة البطن»—أي دافع الشهوة إلى الطعام—فحُفظت به السيطرة على النفس وثبات الباطن.

Word by Word

• {'nānāśanaḥ': 'one who eats variously/at random

• indiscriminate eating', 'mahāśanaḥ': 'a great eater

• gluttonous', 'alolupaḥ': 'not greedy

• free from craving', 'sādhubhiḥ': 'with the good/virtuous persons', 'āgataḥ': 'associated with

• having come into company', 'yātrārtha': 'for the sake of maintenance/sustenance of life', 'āhāra': 'food

• nourishment', 'iha': 'here (in this life/discipline)', 'ādadīta': 'should take/accept', 'jāṭharī': 'belonging to the belly/stomach

• gastric (fire/appetite) contextually', 'dvāra': 'gate

• entrance', 'guptiḥ': 'guarding

Speaker

कपिल उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kapila
• sādhavaḥ (the virtuous)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Practice moderation and restraint in food: avoid indiscriminate eating and overeating, abandon greed for taste, keep the company of the virtuous, and take only what sustains life—this guards the appetite and supports self-mastery.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and renunciation, Kapila speaks as a teacher, laying down practical rules of conduct—especially dietary discipline and association with sādhus—as part of a broader ethical and ascetic regimen.