Shloka 22
Sanatsujāta on Vedic Learning, Truth (Satya), and the Discipline of Dama–Tyāga–Apramāda
इसीके प्रभावसे गन्धर्वों और अप्सराओंको दिव्य रूप प्राप्त हुआ। इस ब्रह्मचर्यके ही प्रतापसे सूर्यदेव समस्त लोकोंको प्रकाशित करनेमें समर्थ होते हैं ।। आकाडकभक्ष्यार्थस्य संयोगाद् रसभेदार्थिनामिव । एवं होते समाज्ञाय तादृग्भावं गता इमे,रसभेदरूप चिन्तामणिसे याचना करनेवालोंको जैसे उनके अभीष्ट अर्थकी प्राप्ति होती है, उसी प्रकार ब्रह्मचर्य भी मनोवांछित वस्तु प्रदान करनेवाला है। ऐसा समझकर ये ऋषि- देवता आदि ब्रह्मचर्यके पालनसे वैसे भावको प्राप्त हुए
asmin prabhāvena gandharvāṇāṃ cāpsarasāṃ ca divyaṃ rūpaṃ prāptam | asyaiva brahmacaryasya pratāpena sūryadevaḥ sarvān lokān prakāśayituṃ samarthaḥ || ākāḍakabhakṣyārthasya saṃyogād rasabhedārthinām iva | evaṃ hīte samājñāya tādṛgbhāvaṃ gatā ime | rasabhedarūpa-cintāmaṇinā yācanā-kartṝṇāṃ yathābhīṣṭārtha-prāptir bhavati tathā brahmacaryam api manovāñchita-vastu-pradaṃ bhavati | iti matvā ṛṣayaḥ devādayaś ca brahmacarya-pālanena tādṛśaṃ bhāvam prāptāḥ ||
Sanatsujāta explains that by the power of brahmacarya (disciplined continence and sacred self-restraint), Gandharvas and Apsarases attained divine beauty and form; by that very austerity the Sun-god is able to illumine all the worlds. Just as those who seek a particular taste obtain the desired result through the proper means—like petitioners approaching a wish-fulfilling jewel—so too brahmacarya grants what the mind longs for. Understanding this, sages, gods, and other beings practiced brahmacarya and thereby reached that exalted state.
सनत्सुजात उवाच
Educational Q&A
Brahmacarya—understood as disciplined restraint and mastery of the senses—generates spiritual potency (prabhāva/pratāpa) that can elevate beings, confer divine qualities, and support cosmic functions; it is presented as a reliable means to attain one’s rightful aims when pursued with understanding.
In the Sanatsujātīya discourse within Udyoga Parva, Sanatsujāta instructs Dhṛtarāṣṭra by praising brahmacarya: he cites examples (Gandharvas, Apsarases, and the Sun-god) to show its transformative power and uses an analogy of obtaining desired results through an effective means (like a wish-fulfilling jewel) to explain why sages and gods adopted it.