Shloka 26

तृष्णाक्षय-उपदेशः

Instruction on the Cessation of Craving

Devanagari script

नानाशन:ः स्यान्न महाशन:ः स्या- दलोलुप: साधुभिरागत: स्यात्‌ | यात्रार्थभाहारमिहाददीत तथास्यथ स्याज्जाठरी द्वारगुप्ति:

Transliteration

nānāśanaḥ syān na mahāśanaḥ syād alolupaḥ sādhubhir āgataḥ syāt | yātrārthabhāhāram ihādadīta tathāsyatha syāj jāṭharī dvāraguptiḥ ||

Translation

Kapila enseña una moderación disciplinada: no se debe comer de manera dispersa e indiscriminada, ni tampoco en exceso; hay que estar libre de codicia por la comida y frecuentar a los virtuosos. Tomando sólo el sustento necesario para mantener la vida, se salvaguarda la “puerta del vientre”—el impulso apetitivo—y se preservan el dominio de sí y la firmeza interior.

Word by Word

• {'nānāśanaḥ': 'one who eats variously/at random

• indiscriminate eating', 'mahāśanaḥ': 'a great eater

• gluttonous', 'alolupaḥ': 'not greedy

• free from craving', 'sādhubhiḥ': 'with the good/virtuous persons', 'āgataḥ': 'associated with

• having come into company', 'yātrārtha': 'for the sake of maintenance/sustenance of life', 'āhāra': 'food

• nourishment', 'iha': 'here (in this life/discipline)', 'ādadīta': 'should take/accept', 'jāṭharī': 'belonging to the belly/stomach

• gastric (fire/appetite) contextually', 'dvāra': 'gate

• entrance', 'guptiḥ': 'guarding

Speaker

कपिल उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kapila
• sādhavaḥ (the virtuous)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Practice moderation and restraint in food: avoid indiscriminate eating and overeating, abandon greed for taste, keep the company of the virtuous, and take only what sustains life—this guards the appetite and supports self-mastery.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and renunciation, Kapila speaks as a teacher, laying down practical rules of conduct—especially dietary discipline and association with sādhus—as part of a broader ethical and ascetic regimen.