Shloka 17
धर्मसूक्ष्मे त्यागप्रधान्यविचारः
Subtle Dharma and the Primacy of Renunciation
वेदवादानतिक्रम्य शास्त्राण्यारण्यकानि च । विपाट्य कदलीस्तम्भं सारं ददृशिरे न ते
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | vedavādān atikramya śāstrāṇy āraṇyakāni ca | vipāṭya kadalī-stambhaṃ sāraṃ dadṛśire na te ||
Yudhiṣṭhira dit : Même après avoir dépassé la simple controverse au sujet des Veda et étudié aussi les śāstra ainsi que les Āraṇyaka, ils ne discernèrent aucune essence véritable—de même que, lorsqu’on fend le tronc d’un bananier, on n’y trouve point de cœur solide ; ainsi, à leurs yeux, nulle réalité consistante ne se manifesta en ce monde.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Mere textual mastery and debate about the Vedas, even alongside study of śāstras and Āraṇyakas, can still fail to yield realization of the ‘sāra’ (true essence). The verse warns that learning without inner discernment may reveal only emptiness—like a banana trunk that has no hard pith.
Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on certain learned people: despite extensive scriptural study, they remain unable to find any substantial meaning or stable reality in worldly life. He illustrates their experience with a vivid simile—splitting a banana stem and finding no core.