Shloka 4
परिव्राजक-आचारः (Conduct of the Wandering Renunciant) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 269
जो पुरुष शब्दब्रह्ममें पारंगत (वेदोक्त कर्मोके अनुष्ठानसे शुद्धचित्त हो चुका) है, वह परब्रह्मको प्राप्त कर लेता है। पिता और माता वेदोक्त गर्भाधानकी विधिसे बालकके जिस शरीरको जन्म देते हैं, वे उस बालकके उस शरीरका ही संस्कार करते हैं। इस प्रकार जिसका शरीर वैदिक संस्कारसे शुद्ध हो जाता है, वही ब्रह्मज्ञानका पात्र होता है। अब मैं अपनी बुद्धिके अनुसार तुम्हें यह बता रहा हूँ कि कर्म किस प्रकार अक्षय मोक्ष-सुखकी प्राप्ति करानेमें कारण होते हैं ।। अनागममनैतिहां प्रत्यक्ष लोकसाक्षिकम् । धर्म इत्येव ये यज्ञान् वितन्वन्ति निराशिष:,जो अपना धर्म (कर्तव्य) समझकर बिना किसी प्रकारकी भोगेच्छाके यज्ञोंका अनुष्ठान करते हैं, उनके उस यज्ञका फल वेद या इतिहासद्दारा नहीं जाना जाता है। वह प्रत्यक्ष है और उसे सब लोग अपनी आँखों देखते हैं
yo puruṣaḥ śabda-brahmaṇi pāraṅgataḥ (vedokta-karmānuṣṭhānāt śuddha-cittaḥ) sa para-brahma prāpnoti. pitā ca mātā ca vedokta-garbhādhāna-vidhinā bālakasya yaṃ śarīraṃ janayataḥ, tau tasya bālakasya tasyaiva śarīrasya saṃskāraṃ kurutaḥ. evaṃ yasya śarīraṃ vaidika-saṃskāraiḥ śuddhaṃ bhavati sa eva brahma-jñānasya pātraṃ bhavati. idānīṃ yathā-buddhi te bravīmi karma kathaṃ prakāreṇākṣaya-mokṣa-sukha-prāptau kāraṇaṃ bhavati. anāgamam anaitihyaṃ pratyakṣaṃ loka-sākṣikam. dharma ity eva ye yajñān vitanvanti nirāśiṣaḥ, teṣāṃ tasya yajñasya phalaṃ na vedena na itihāsena jñāyate; tat pratyakṣaṃ sarvaiḥ pratyakṣato dṛśyate.
Kapila says: The person who has mastered the ‘Brahman of sound’—the Veda—and whose mind has been purified through the performance of Vedic duties, attains the Supreme Brahman. A father and mother, having brought forth a child’s body through the Vedic rite of conception, perform the consecratory refinements for that very body. Thus, only one whose body and life have been purified by Vedic sacraments becomes a fit vessel for knowledge of Brahman. Now, according to my understanding, I shall explain to you how action becomes a cause for the attainment of imperishable liberation and bliss. For those who spread and perform sacrifices solely as ‘dharma’—without desire for enjoyment—the fruit of that sacrifice is not something to be known from Veda or from historical report; it is immediate, publicly witnessed, and seen directly by people.
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kapila links Vedic discipline to liberation: mastery of the Veda and the purifying performance of prescribed duties and sacraments make a person fit for Brahman-knowledge, and desireless sacrifice performed as dharma yields an ‘imperishable’ liberating benefit whose value is evident in lived, publicly observable transformation rather than merely in textual report.
In Kapila’s discourse (a didactic section of Śānti Parva), he explains the progression from ritual and ethical formation (saṃskāra and yajña done without craving) to inner purification and finally to realization of the Supreme Brahman, emphasizing that the highest fruit of selfless duty is directly witnessed in the practitioner’s state and conduct.