Shloka 15
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
वस्त्राणि चान्यानि बहुन्यभिमन्यत्यबुद्धिमान् । भोजनानि विचित्राणि रत्नानि विविधानि च
vasistha uvāca | vastrāṇi cānyāni bahūny abhimanyaty abuddhimān | bhojanāni vicitrāṇi ratnāni vividhāni ca |
قال فاسيشثا: «إن الأحمق يتيه بما يملك من ثيابٍ كثيرة الأنواع. يطلب أطعمةً شتّى متكلّفة، ويتزيّن بجواهر متعددة الأصناف—فيحسب هذه المكاسب الظاهرة هي القيمة الحقة والهناء».
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
External luxuries—fine clothes, rich foods, and jewels—can inflate pride and delusion. Vasiṣṭha highlights that such possessions are not the measure of true good; discernment and inner virtue are.
In a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, Vasiṣṭha is instructing by pointing to the behavior of an undiscerning person who chases and boasts of sensory enjoyments and adornments, implying a moral critique and urging a higher standard of value.