Shloka 27
Daṇḍa as the Foundation of Social Order (दण्डप्रतिष्ठा)
ग्रामान् निष्क्रम्य मुनयो विगतक्रोधमत्सरा: । वने कुट॒म्बधर्माणो दृश्यन्ते परिमोहिता:
grāmān niṣkramya munayo vigata-krodha-matsarāḥ | vane kuṭumba-dharmāṇo dṛśyante parimohitāḥ ||
Arjuna dit : «Bien des sages, délivrés de la colère et de l’envie, quittent les villages et gagnent la forêt ; pourtant, là-bas, abusés par l’illusion, on les voit s’attacher aux usages de la vie de maison.»
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
External renunciation—leaving society for the forest—does not by itself ensure inner freedom. Even those who have abandoned anger and envy may still fall into moha (delusion) and reproduce household attachments; true dharma requires inner clarity and detachment, not merely a change of location.
Arjuna raises a pointed observation: sages who depart from villages for forest life are expected to live as renunciants, yet he sees some behaving as if bound to household duties. His question sets up a discussion on the difference between genuine renunciation and attachment disguised as ascetic life.