Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha
स्वर्गार्गलं लोभबीजं रागगुप्तं दुरासदम् । त॑ तु पश्यन्ति पुरुषा जितक्रोधा जितेन्द्रिया:
svargārgaḷaṃ lobhabījaṃ rāgaguptaṃ durāsadam | taṃ tu paśyanti puruṣā jitakrodhā jitendriyāḥ ||
«C’est le verrou qui barre la route du ciel : la semence de l’avidité, cachée sous l’attachement, difficile à surmonter. Pourtant, les hommes qui ont vaincu la colère et maîtrisé leurs sens peuvent la voir clairement et s’en préserver.»
श्षशुर उवाच
Greed, concealed by attachment, becomes a powerful inner obstruction to spiritual good; only those who conquer anger and restrain the senses can recognize this obstacle and avoid being bound by it.
The speaker (identified as the father-in-law) delivers a moral instruction, describing an inner vice as a ‘bolt’ blocking heaven and praising the disciplined—those free from anger and sense-indulgence—as capable of discerning and overcoming it.