Mahabharata 3.2.84 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 2, Shloka 84
ब्राह्मणानुयात्रा—शौनकोपदेशः
Brāhmaṇas Follow into Exile and Śaunaka’s Instruction
सिद्धा हि यद् यदिच्छन्ति कुर्वते तदनुग्रहात् तस्मात्तप: समास्थाय कुरुष्वात्ममनोरथम्
siddhā hi yad yad icchanti kurvate tad anugrahāt | tasmāt tapaḥ samāsthāya kuruṣvātma-manoratham ||
Denn vollendete Asketen erlangen, was immer sie wahrhaft begehren, durch die Gunst, die aus ihrer Askese erwächst. Darum nimm Zuflucht zu diszipliniertem Tapas und erfülle den Wunsch deines Herzens.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Tapas (disciplined austerity) generates a spiritually efficacious force; those who are siddha can realize their aims through the grace/power arising from such practice. The verse urges undertaking tapas as the ethical means to fulfill one’s rightful intention.
Śaunaka speaks as an advisor, pointing to the well-known capacity of perfected ascetics to accomplish desired ends through austerity, and he exhorts the listener to adopt tapas to achieve the intended objective.
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