Shloka 25

परिव्राजक-आचारः (Conduct of the Wandering Renunciant) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 269

Devanagari script

नक्षत्राणीव धिष्ण्येषु बहवस्तारकागणा: । आनन्त्यमुपसम्प्राप्ता: संतोषादिति वैदिकम्‌,श्रेष्ठ पुरुष विधिपूर्वक उन सब आश्रमोंमें प्रवेश करके उनके धर्मका पालन करते हुए परम-गतिको प्राप्त होते हैं। उनमेंसे कुछ लोग तो घरसे निकलकर (अर्थात्‌ संन्यासी होकर), कुछ लोग वानप्रस्थका आश्रय लेकर, कुछ मानव गृहस्थ ही रहकर और कोई ब्रह्मचर्य आश्रमका सेवन करते हुए ही उस आश्रमधर्मका पालन करके परमपदको प्राप्त होते हैं। उस समय वे ही द्विजगण आकाशमें ज्योति-मयरूपसे दिखायी देते हैं, जो कि नक्षत्रोंके समान ही आकाशके विभिन्न स्थानोंमें अनेक तारागण हैं--इन सबने संतोषके द्वारा ही यह अनन्त पद प्राप्त किया है, ऐसा वैदिक सिद्धान्त है

Transliteration

nakṣatrāṇīva dhiṣṇyeṣu bahavas tārakāgaṇāḥ | ānantyam upasamprāptāḥ santoṣād iti vaidikam |

Translation

Kapila said: “Just as many clusters of stars appear in the various regions of the sky like constellations, so too many twice-born attain the endless state. They reach that infinite goal through contentment—this is the Vedic conclusion.”

Word by Word

नक्षत्राणिconstellations/stars

इवlike/as

धिष्ण्येषुin the abodes/places

बहवःmany

तारकागणाःgroups of stars

आनन्त्यम्endlessness/infinity (state)

उपसम्प्राप्ताःhaving attained/obtained

संतोषात्from/through contentment

इतिthus (quotative)

वैदिकम्Vedic (doctrine/statement)

Speaker

कपिल उवाच

Characters & Entities

Kapila

nakṣatra (constellations)

tārakāgaṇa (clusters of stars)

ānantya (the infinite state)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Contentment (santoṣa) is presented as a decisive means for attaining the ‘infinite’ or ultimate state; Kapila frames this as a Vedic siddhānta, using the image of countless stars to suggest many beings reaching that goal.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kapila is instructing his listener in a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, offering a metaphor: as stars are seen spread across the sky, so many attain the highest end; he attributes their attainment to contentment and cites it as Vedic doctrine.