Shloka 25
अज्ञान–लोभयोः परस्परहेतुत्वम्
Mutual Causality of Ignorance and Greed
कल्याणमनुकर्तव्यं पुरुषेण बुभूषता । ये सुगन्धीनि सेवन्ते तथागन्धा भवन्ति ते,सुखकी अभिलाषा रखनेवाले पुरुषको कल्याणकारी कर्मोंका अनुष्ठान करना चाहिये। जो सुगन्धित पदार्थोंका सेवन करते हैं, उनके शरीरसे सुगन्ध निकलती है और जो सदा दुर्गन्धका सेवन करते हैं, वे अपने शरीरसे दुर्गन्न्ध ही फैलाते हैं। जो मनुष्य तपस्यामें तत्पर होता है, वह तत्काल सारे पापोंसे मुक्ता हो जाता है
kalyāṇam anukartavyaṃ puruṣeṇa bubhūṣatā | ye sugandhīni sevante tathāgandhā bhavanti te ||
Śaunaka said: A man who seeks true well-being should practice what is auspicious and beneficial. Those who associate with fragrant substances become fragrant in turn; likewise, those who continually partake of what is foul come to carry and spread foulness themselves. The teaching points to the moral law of association: by keeping company with the good and cultivating wholesome conduct, one’s character is refined; by clinging to the impure, one’s nature is degraded.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should deliberately practice what is kalyāṇa (wholesome and auspicious). A person becomes like what they repeatedly associate with—good company and pure habits refine one’s nature, while impure associations degrade it.
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, Śaunaka delivers a moral instruction using a simple analogy of fragrance: contact and habitual ‘consumption’ shape a person’s qualities and reputation.