Shloka 25
परिव्राजक-आचारः (Conduct of the Wandering Renunciant) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 269
नक्षत्राणीव धिष्ण्येषु बहवस्तारकागणा: । आनन्त्यमुपसम्प्राप्ता: संतोषादिति वैदिकम्
nakṣatrāṇīva dhiṣṇyeṣu bahavas tārakāgaṇāḥ | ānantyam upasamprāptāḥ santoṣād iti vaidikam |
Kapila dit : «De même que de nombreux amas d’étoiles apparaissent dans les diverses régions du ciel comme des constellations, de même beaucoup de “deux-fois-nés” atteignent l’état sans fin. Ils parviennent à ce but infini par le contentement—telle est la conclusion védique.»
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Contentment (santoṣa) is presented as a decisive means for attaining the ‘infinite’ or ultimate state; Kapila frames this as a Vedic siddhānta, using the image of countless stars to suggest many beings reaching that goal.
Kapila is instructing his listener in a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, offering a metaphor: as stars are seen spread across the sky, so many attain the highest end; he attributes their attainment to contentment and cites it as Vedic doctrine.