Shloka 14
नारद–असित (देवल) संवादः — भूतप्रभवाप्यय, इन्द्रिय-गुण-विवेक, क्षेत्रज्ञ-तत्त्व
देवयाना हि पन्थानश्षत्वार: शाश्वता मता: । एषां ज्याय: कनीयस्त्वं फलेषूक्तं बलाबलम्
devayānā hi panthānaś catvāraḥ śāśvatā matāḥ | eṣāṃ jyāyaḥ kanīyastvaṃ phaleṣūktaṃ balābalam ||
Kapila said: “The four paths known as the ‘devayāna’ are held to be eternal. Among them, which is higher and which is lower—indeed, which is stronger and which is weaker—can be understood by considering the fruits they yield.”
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kapila teaches that the relative excellence of the four devayāna paths is judged by their fruits—i.e., the ethical and spiritual results they produce—rather than by name, status, or mere external form.
In the Śānti Parva’s instructional dialogue, Kapila is explaining a framework of four perennial spiritual disciplines (understood as the four āśramas) and introducing a criterion for comparing them: their outcomes (phala), which reveal their true strength or weakness.