Shloka 55
तृष्णाक्षय-उपदेशः
Instruction on the Cessation of Craving
यो यथाप्रकृतिर्जन्तु: प्रकृते: स्याद् वशानुग: । तस्य द्वेषश्व कामश्च क्रोधो दम्भो5नृतं मद: । नित्यमेवाभिवर्तन्ते गुणा: प्रकृतिसम्भवा:
yo yathāprakṛtir jantuḥ prakṛteḥ syād vaśānugaḥ | tasya dveṣaś ca kāmaś ca krodho dambho 'nṛtaṃ madaḥ | nityam evābhivartante guṇāḥ prakṛtisambhavāḥ ||
Kapila dit : Telle est la constitution innée (prakṛti) d’un être vivant, telle aussi est sa sujétion à cette même nature. En un tel homme, la haine et le désir, la colère, l’hypocrisie (dambha), le mensonge et l’orgueil enivré—qualités nées de la nature—reviennent sans cesse et demeurent toujours présentes.
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
A being tends to act under the dominance of its own prakṛti; therefore recurring moral faults—hatred, desire, anger, hypocrisy, falsehood, and pride—are seen as guṇa-born patterns. Ethical progress requires awareness of these tendencies and disciplined effort to transcend or purify them rather than assuming one is naturally free of them.
In the Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Kapila is explaining to his interlocutor(s) how embodied beings are conditioned by prakṛti and its guṇas. He lists common inner vices as manifestations of that conditioning, setting up a broader discussion on liberation and self-control.