Shloka 34
ब्राह्मणानुयात्रा—शौनकोपदेशः
Brāhmaṇas Follow into Exile and Śaunaka’s Instruction
रागाभिभूत: पुरुष: कामेन परिकृष्यते । इच्छा संजायते तस्य ततस्तृष्णा विवर्धते,“रागके वशीभूत हुए पुरुषको काम अपनी ओर आकृष्ट कर लेता है। फिर उसके मनमें कामभोगकी इच्छा जाग उठती है। तत्पश्चात् तृष्णा बढ़ने लगती है। तृष्णा सबसे बढ़कर पापिष्ठ (पापमें प्रवृत्त करनेवाली) तथा नित्य उद्वेग करनेवाली बतायी गयी है। उसके द्वारा प्राय: अधर्म ही होता है। वह अत्यन्त भयंकर पापाबन्धनमें डालनेवाली है
rāgābhibhūtaḥ puruṣaḥ kāmena parikṛṣyate | icchā sañjāyate tasya tatastṛṣṇā vivardhate ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: When a person is overpowered by attachment, desire drags him along. From that arises the wish to enjoy sense-objects, and then craving swells ever greater—an inner force that unsettles the mind and repeatedly pushes one toward wrongdoing.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Attachment (rāga) is presented as the first link in a moral chain: once it dominates the mind, desire (kāma) pulls the person, giving rise to intention/wish (icchā), which then expands into craving (tṛṣṇā). The implied lesson is that restraining attachment early prevents the later escalation into restless, ethically harmful craving.
Vaiśampāyana is explaining a general principle about human conduct: how inner attachment develops into desire and then into ever-growing craving. The verse functions as ethical instruction within the broader Vana Parva discourse, warning how unchecked passions lead one away from dharma.