Shloka 13
कामतृष्णावैराग्योपदेशः तथा राज्यविभागः
Teaching on Desire & Renunciation; Delegation of Kingdoms
न जातु कामः कामानाम् उपभोगेन शाम्यति हविषा कृष्णवर्त्मेव भूय एवाभिवर्धते
na jātu kāmaḥ kāmānām upabhogena śāmyati haviṣā kṛṣṇavartmeva bhūya evābhivardhate
Desire for objects of desire is never quenched by indulgence; like a fire fed with oblations, it only blazes more fiercely and grows.
Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Why sense-indulgence cannot extinguish desire and instead intensifies it (the fire-and-oblations analogy).
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Kāma is not pacified by enjoyment; indulgence functions like fuel to fire, increasing craving rather than ending it.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Treat cravings as signals to pause: reduce stimuli, practice moderation, and redirect attention to higher aims (svadharma, japa, seva).
Vishishtadvaita: By negating the sufficiency of sense-objects, the verse indirectly points to the Lord as the only adequate object of love that can settle the self.
FAQs
This verse teaches that indulgence does not extinguish craving; like fire that intensifies when fed, desire grows stronger when repeatedly gratified.
Parāśara frames enjoyment as self-reinforcing: the mind learns to demand more, so restraint—not repeated consumption—is presented as the path to calm.
By exposing the instability of worldly pleasures, the teaching implicitly redirects the seeker toward Vishnu as the enduring, sovereign ground of peace beyond fleeting objects.