Shloka 3
भिक्षुलक्षणम्—एकचर्याः, अहिंसा, कैवल्याश्रमः
Marks of the Mendicant: Solitary Wandering, Non-Injury, and the Kaivalya-Discipline
व्यास उवाच यस्तु पश्यन् स्वभावेन विनाभावमचेतन: । पुष्यते च पुनः सर्वान् प्रज्ञया मुक्तहेतुकान्
vyāsa uvāca | yas tu paśyan svabhāvena vinābhāvam acetanaḥ | puṣyate ca punaḥ sarvān prajñayā mukta-hetukān |
Vyāsa said: But the man who, while observing the world, concludes that it arises merely from its own nature—without any underlying conscious principle—such an unwise person repeatedly nourishes and reinforces all manner of causeless assertions through a clever, argumentative intellect.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse criticizes the view that the world is produced solely by 'svabhāva' (mere nature) without any conscious grounding or meaningful causality. It warns that such a stance leads one to keep defending baseless claims through argumentative cleverness rather than true discernment.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vyāsa is presenting a philosophical evaluation of doctrines about the origin and governance of the world. Here he rebukes a naturalistic, non-conscious-cause explanation and characterizes its proponent as repeatedly propping up causeless assertions.