Shloka 15
अव्यक्त–प्रकृति–इन्द्रियविचारः
The Unmanifest, Prakṛtis, and the Sense-Complex
प्रसक्तबुद्धिर्विषयेषु यो नरो न बुध्यते हयात्महितं कथंचन । स सर्वभावानुगतेन चेतसा नृपामिषेणेव झषो विकृष्यते
prasaktabuddhir viṣayeṣu yo naro na budhyate hy ātma-hitaṃ kathaṃcana | sa sarva-bhāvānugatena cetasā nṛpāmiṣeṇeva jhaṣo vikṛṣyate ||
Parāśara sprach: Ein Mensch, dessen Verstand in Sinnesobjekten verstrickt ist, erkennt auf keine Weise, was ihm wahrhaft zuträglich ist. O König, wie ein Fisch vom Fleischköder am Haken angelockt und ins Leid gezerrt wird, so wird auch er—dessen Geist von allerlei Begierde durchdrungen ist—zu den Gegenständen des Genusses hingezogen und gerät ins Verderben.
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Attachment of the intellect to sense-objects destroys discernment of one’s true good (ātma-hita). Craving-laden mind pulls a person toward pleasures that end in suffering, like a fish drawn by bait to a hook.
Parāśara is instructing a king, using a vivid simile: the baited hook and fish. The verse functions as moral counsel within Śānti Parva’s broader teaching on restraint, right understanding, and the causes of bondage and sorrow.