Shloka 15
Nakula’s Counsel on Yajña, Dāna, and Tyāga (नकुलोपदेशः—यज्ञदानत्यागविचारः)
यदा कामान् समीक्षेत धर्मवैतंसिको नर: । अथीनं मृत्युपाशेन कण्ठे बध्नाति मृत्युराट्
yadā kāmān samīkṣeta dharmavaitāṃsiko naraḥ | athīnaṃ mṛtyupāśena kaṇṭhe badhnāti mṛtyurāṭ ||
Nakula dit : «Quand un homme qui parade en juste—portant le dharma comme un étendard—tourne encore son regard vers les plaisirs des sens, fût-ce dans la solitude de la forêt, le Seigneur de la Mort serre la gorge de cet être sans défense avec le lacet de la mortalité.»
नकुल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Outer signs of righteousness or renunciation are meaningless if the mind still dwells on sense-pleasures; inner self-control is essential, and hypocrisy hastens spiritual and moral downfall.
Nakula delivers a warning within the Shanti Parva’s ethical instruction: even a forest-dweller who merely ‘looks toward’ or mentally revisits pleasures while posing as virtuous becomes vulnerable to Yama, symbolizing the inevitable consequence of unchecked desire.