Shloka 16
कपिलगोसंवादे गृहस्थ-त्यागधर्मयोः प्रमाण्यविचारः
Kapila–Cow Dialogue: Authority of Householder and Renunciant Dharmas
वातातपसहो ग्रीष्मे न च धर्ममविन्दत । दुःखशय्याश्व विविधा भूमौ च परिवर्तते
vātātapasaho grīṣme na ca dharmam avindata | duḥkhaśayyāś ca vividhā bhūmau ca parivartate ||
Bhishma dit : « Endurant, en été, le vent brûlant et le soleil de feu, il n’atteignit pourtant pas le dharma véritable. Il s’étendait sur toutes sortes de couches douloureuses et se roulait sur la terre nue — embrassant l’épreuve de mille façons — mais la compréhension authentique de la droiture ne s’éveilla pas en lui. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Severe austerity and physical mortification—enduring heat, wind, and painful sleeping practices—do not by themselves yield realization of dharma. Ethical clarity and right understanding are distinct from mere suffering.
Bhishma describes an ascetic figure who undertakes extreme bodily hardships (bearing summer heat, lying on painful beds, rolling on the ground), yet fails to attain the true knowledge or realization of dharma.