Shloka 15
अव्यक्त–प्रकृति–इन्द्रियविचारः
The Unmanifest, Prakṛtis, and the Sense-Complex
प्रसक्तबुद्धिर्विषयेषु यो नरो न बुध्यते हयात्महितं कथंचन । स सर्वभावानुगतेन चेतसा नृपामिषेणेव झषो विकृष्यते
prasaktabuddhir viṣayeṣu yo naro na budhyate hy ātma-hitaṃ kathaṃcana | sa sarva-bhāvānugatena cetasā nṛpāmiṣeṇeva jhaṣo vikṛṣyate ||
Parāśara dit : L’homme dont l’intelligence est empêtrée dans les objets des sens ne discerne en rien ce qui lui est véritablement salutaire. Ô roi, de même que le poisson, attiré par la chair appâtée sur l’hameçon, est traîné vers la souffrance, ainsi lui—l’esprit pénétré de toutes sortes de convoitises—est entraîné vers les objets de jouissance et tombe dans le malheur.
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Attachment of the intellect to sense-objects destroys discernment of one’s true good (ātma-hita). Craving-laden mind pulls a person toward pleasures that end in suffering, like a fish drawn by bait to a hook.
Parāśara is instructing a king, using a vivid simile: the baited hook and fish. The verse functions as moral counsel within Śānti Parva’s broader teaching on restraint, right understanding, and the causes of bondage and sorrow.