Mahabharata 3.201.96 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 96
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
त्रिदण्डधारणं मौनं जटाभारो5थ मुण्डनम् । वल्कलाजिनसंचवेष्ट ब्रतचर्याभिषेचनम्
tridaṇḍa-dhāraṇaṃ maunaṃ jaṭā-bhāro ’tha muṇḍanam | valkalājina-saṃcaveṣṭaṃ vrata-caryābhiṣecanam ||
قال يودهيشثيرا: «حمل العصا الثلاثية (تريداندا)، ولزوم الصمت، وحمل ثقل الضفائر المتلبّدة—أو حلق الرأس؛ والالتفاف بلباس اللحاء وجلْد الأيل؛ واعتناق النذور والاغتسال الطقسي—كل هذه الرياضات الظاهرة، إن لم تُطهَّر السريرة، غدت عقيمة. فالقيمة الحقّة ليست في شارات الزهد، بل في طهارة النية والسلوك».
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
External signs of renunciation—staff, silence, matted hair or shaving, bark and deer-skin, vows and ritual bathing—have no value if one’s inner attitude is impure. Dharma is measured by sincerity and purified intention, not by costume or display.
In the Vana Parva context, Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on religious discipline and the danger of mere outward observance. He emphasizes that ascetic practices must be grounded in inner moral purification to be meaningful.
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