Shloka 19
Akṣara–Kṣara Viveka: Vasiṣṭha–Karāla-Janaka Saṃvāda (अक्षर-क्षर विवेकः)
नवे कपाले सलिल संन्यस्तं हीयते यथा । नवेतरे तथाभावं प्राप्नोति सुखभावितम्
nave kapāle salila-saṃnyastaṃ hīyate yathā | navetare tathābhāvaṃ prāpnoti sukha-bhāvitam ||
Parāśara sprach: „Wie Wasser, das man in einen neu gefertigten, ungebrannten Tontopf gießt, durchsickert und verloren geht, während Wasser in einem gut gebrannten Gefäß unversehrt bleibt, so dauert auch das glückbringende Verdienst, das aus guten Taten entsteht, nur dann beständig fort, wenn es im gereiften und geläuterten inneren Werkzeug (Geist und Herz) gegründet ist.“
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Merit and happiness gained from good actions become stable only when supported by a mature, purified mind; otherwise they ‘leak away’ due to inner impurity, instability, or lack of self-control.
Parāśara instructs through a household metaphor: an unbaked clay pot cannot retain water, but a fired pot can. Likewise, spiritual or ethical gains remain only in a well-formed inner character.