Mahabharata 3.201.96 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 96
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
त्रिदण्डधारणं मौनं जटाभारो5थ मुण्डनम् । वल्कलाजिनसंचवेष्ट ब्रतचर्याभिषेचनम्
tridaṇḍa-dhāraṇaṃ maunaṃ jaṭā-bhāro ’tha muṇḍanam | valkalājina-saṃcaveṣṭaṃ vrata-caryābhiṣecanam ||
Dijo Yudhiṣṭhira: «Portar el triple báculo, guardar silencio, cargar el peso de las greñas enmarañadas—o, por el contrario, raparse la cabeza; envolverse en corteza y piel de ciervo; asumir votos y baños rituales: tales disciplinas externas, cuando la disposición interior no está purificada, se vuelven estériles. El verdadero mérito no reside en las señales de la renuncia, sino en la pureza de la intención y de la conducta».
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
External signs of renunciation—staff, silence, matted hair or shaving, bark and deer-skin, vows and ritual bathing—have no value if one’s inner attitude is impure. Dharma is measured by sincerity and purified intention, not by costume or display.
In the Vana Parva context, Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on religious discipline and the danger of mere outward observance. He emphasizes that ascetic practices must be grounded in inner moral purification to be meaningful.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.