Shloka 18
कपिलगोसंवादे गृहस्थ-त्यागधर्मयोः प्रमाण्यविचारः
Kapila–Cow Dialogue: Authority of Householder and Renunciant Dharmas
अथ तसस््य जटा: क्लिन्ना बभूवु्ग्रथिता: प्रभो । अरण्यगमनान्नित्यं मलिनो5मलसंयुत:
atha tasya jaṭāḥ klinnā babhūvur grathitāḥ prabho | araṇyagamanān nityaṁ malino 'malasaṁyutaḥ ||
Bhishma said: “O lord, because his hair was continually wet, it became matted and tangled into dreadlocks. And since he lived and wandered always in the forest, his body grew soiled with grime; yet his inner being became purified, free from taint.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
External austerity and hardship may leave the body unkempt, but true spiritual progress is measured by inner purification—becoming 'amala' (stainless) in mind and character despite outward conditions.
Bhishma describes an ascetic-like figure whose constant forest life and perpetual dampness have made his hair form matted locks and his body become dirty, while emphasizing that inwardly he has grown pure.