Shloka 15
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
वस्त्राणि चान्यानि बहुन्यभिमन्यत्यबुद्धिमान् । भोजनानि विचित्राणि रत्नानि विविधानि च
vasistha uvāca | vastrāṇi cānyāni bahūny abhimanyaty abuddhimān | bhojanāni vicitrāṇi ratnāni vividhāni ca |
Vasiṣṭha said: “The foolish man prides himself on possessing many kinds of garments. He seeks out varied and elaborate foods, and he adorns himself with jewels of many sorts—mistaking these external acquisitions for true worth and well-being.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
External luxuries—fine clothes, rich foods, and jewels—can inflate pride and delusion. Vasiṣṭha highlights that such possessions are not the measure of true good; discernment and inner virtue are.
In a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, Vasiṣṭha is instructing by pointing to the behavior of an undiscerning person who chases and boasts of sensory enjoyments and adornments, implying a moral critique and urging a higher standard of value.