Shloka 15
देवतापितृप्रश्नः — Nārada at Badarīāśrama: the ultimate referent of daiva and pitṛ worship
धर्म नि:श्रेणिमास्थाय किंचित् किंचित् समारुह । कोषकारदवदात्मान वेष्टयन्नानुबुध्यसे,तुम धर्मरूपी सीढ़ीको पाकर धीरे-धीरे उसपर चढ़ते जाओ। अभी तो तुम रेशमके कीड़ेकी तरह अपने-आपको वासनाओंके जालसे ही लपेटते जा रहे हो, तुम्हें चेत नहीं हो रहा है
dharma-niḥśreṇim āsthāya kiñcit kiñcit samāruha | koṣakāra-ivad ātmānaṁ veṣṭayannānubudhyase ||
Having taken hold of the ladder of dharma, climb it step by step. Yet you do not awaken to what you are doing: like a silkworm spinning its cocoon, you keep wrapping your own self in the web of cravings and attachments.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is to be practiced as a gradual ascent—one should progress step by step in discipline and virtue. If one instead follows cravings, one unknowingly entangles oneself, just as a silkworm spins the very cocoon that confines it.
Vyāsa admonishes the listener, urging them to take up dharma as a means of steady elevation. He contrasts this with the listener’s present condition: being absorbed in desires and attachments, they are self-binding and remain unaware of their own entanglement.