Shloka 45
तृष्णाक्षय-उपदेशः
Instruction on the Cessation of Craving
नौर्नावीव निबद्धा हि स्रोतसा सनिबन्धना । ह्वियमाणा कथं विप्र कुबुद्धींस्तारयिष्यति । एतद् ब्रवीतु भगवानुपपन्नो<5स्म्यधीहि भो:
naur nāvīva nibaddhā hi srotasā sanibandhanā | hviyamāṇā kathaṃ vipra kubuddhīṃs tārayiṣyati | etad bravītu bhagavān upapanno 'smy adhīhi bhoḥ ||
Une barque, si elle est liée à une autre barque que le courant emporte, ne peut conduire personne jusqu’à la rive visée. De même, notre « barque de l’action », enchaînée par les impressions latentes des actes des vies antérieures et entraînée par le flot, comment pourrait-elle nous faire traverser—nous, hommes à l’intelligence égarée—l’océan du devenir (bhava-sāgara) ? Ô Bienheureux, dis-le-moi : je suis venu chercher refuge auprès de toi ; instruis-moi.
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kapila uses a boat-and-current metaphor to show that action driven by past karmic impressions (vāsanā) and deluded understanding cannot by itself deliver liberation. One must seek right knowledge and proper guidance—hence the request for instruction from the ‘Bhagavān’—so that the means of crossing is not itself dragged by the stream of saṃsāra.
In a didactic dialogue within Śānti Parva, Kapila addresses a brahmin interlocutor and argues that ordinary karmic striving, bound to prior tendencies, is like a boat tied to another boat being swept away: it cannot reach the destination. He then turns to the revered teacher (‘Bhagavān’) and asks for decisive instruction, presenting himself as one who has come for refuge and guidance.