Shloka 58
तृष्णाक्षय-उपदेशः
Instruction on the Cessation of Craving
यः वलश्चिन्न्याय्य आचार: सर्व शास्त्रमिति श्रुति: । यदन्याय्यमशास्त्र तदित्येषा श्रूयते श्रुति:
yaḥ śāstraś cin nyāyya ācāraḥ sarvaṃ śāstram iti śrutiḥ | yad anyāyyam aśāstraṃ tad ity eṣā śrūyate śrutiḥ ||
Kapila dit : «La tradition (śruti) proclame : toute conduite juste et convenable est, tout entière, “śāstra” (enseignement faisant autorité). Et toute conduite injuste est “aśāstra” (non-śāstra, contraire à la juste doctrine) ; ainsi l’entend-on aussi dans la tradition.»
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Right conduct itself is the true measure of ‘śāstra’: whatever is just and ethically sound counts as authoritative dharma-teaching, while whatever is unjust is to be rejected as non-śāstric.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Kapila states a guiding criterion for evaluating practices and claims of authority: justice and propriety validate a rule as śāstra, whereas injustice marks it as aśāstra.