Shloka 16
कपिलगोसंवादे गृहस्थ-त्यागधर्मयोः प्रमाण्यविचारः
Kapila–Cow Dialogue: Authority of Householder and Renunciant Dharmas
वातातपसहो ग्रीष्मे न च धर्ममविन्दत । दुःखशय्याश्व विविधा भूमौ च परिवर्तते
vātātapasaho grīṣme na ca dharmam avindata | duḥkhaśayyāś ca vividhā bhūmau ca parivartate ||
Dijo Bhishma: «Soportando en el verano el viento abrasador y el sol inclemente, aun así no alcanzó el dharma verdadero. Se tendía sobre múltiples lechos dolorosos y se revolcaba en la tierra desnuda—abrazando la penuria de diversas maneras—pero no despertó en él la comprensión real de la rectitud.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Severe austerity and physical mortification—enduring heat, wind, and painful sleeping practices—do not by themselves yield realization of dharma. Ethical clarity and right understanding are distinct from mere suffering.
Bhishma describes an ascetic figure who undertakes extreme bodily hardships (bearing summer heat, lying on painful beds, rolling on the ground), yet fails to attain the true knowledge or realization of dharma.