Shloka 12
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
विविधासु च शय्यासु फलगृद्धयान्वितस्तथा । मुज्जमेखलनग्नत्वं क्षौीमकृष्णाजिनानि च
vividāsu ca śayyāsu phalagṛddhyānvitas tathā | muñja-mekhala-nagnatvaṃ kṣaumāni kṛṣṇājināni ca ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “A man whose mind is bound by craving for fruit (reward) lives in constant inconsistency. He lies on many kinds of beds; driven by desire for gain, at one time he wears a girdle of muñja-grass and at another goes naked; now he puts on linen garments, and now a black antelope-skin.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Craving for ‘phala’ (results/rewards) makes a person restless and inconsistent, even to the point of adopting contradictory outward lifestyles (ascetic emblems, nakedness, fine clothing). The ethical point is that true steadiness in dharma depends on inner detachment, not on shifting external appearances.
Vasiṣṭha is describing the behavior-pattern of a reward-seeking person: he alternates among many sleeping arrangements and outward modes of dress associated with both austerity and comfort. The description functions as a critique of attachment-driven living and a lead-in to valuing inner discipline over performative renunciation.