Shloka 37
Vānaprastha-vṛtti and the Transition toward the Fourth Āśrama (वानप्रस्थवृत्तिः चतुर्थाश्रमोपक्रमश्च)
अलोलुपो&व्यथो दान्तो न कृती न निराकृति: । नास्येन्द्रियमनेकाग्रं न विक्षिप्तमनोरथ:
vyāsa uvāca | alolupo 'vyatho dānto na kṛtī na nirākṛtiḥ | nāsyendriyam anekāgraṃ na vikṣiptamanorathaḥ ||
Vyāsa said: He is free from greed and craving, untroubled, and self-restrained; he is neither driven by compulsive activity nor defined by outward display. His senses are not scattered in many directions, and his mind’s aims are not thrown about by restless desires. Such a knower, steady in inner discipline and content with what comes for mere sustenance, moves toward freedom from worldly bondage.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines the inner marks of a liberated-minded knower: freedom from greed, calmness, self-restraint, and a mind not scattered by shifting desires. Liberation is linked to steadiness and non-dependence on external identity or compulsive achievement.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Vyāsa continues a didactic description of the sāṅkhya-yogin (the wise practitioner), listing qualities that characterize one who is moving beyond worldly bondage.