Shloka 47
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
काषायधारणं मौण्ड्यं त्रिविष्टब्धं कमण्डलुम् । लिज्जन्युत्पथभूतानि न मोक्षायेति मे मति:
kāṣāyadhāraṇaṃ mauṇḍyaṃ trivisṭabdhaṃ kamaṇḍalum | lijjanyutpathabhūtāni na mokṣāyeti me matiḥ ||
Janaka dit : «Porter la robe ocre, se raser la tête et tenir le kamandalu suspendu au bâton—lorsque ces choses ne sont plus que des insignes extérieurs menant à la vanité et à une voie égarée—ne sont pas, selon moi, des moyens de délivrance. La délivrance ne s’obtient pas par le costume et l’apparat, mais par la discipline intérieure et la juste compréhension.»
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
External marks of sainthood—ochre robes, a shaven head, and an ascetic’s water-pot—do not by themselves lead to moksha; when adopted for display they become a wrong path. True liberation depends on inner purity, restraint, and right knowledge.
King Janaka is speaking in a didactic context, critiquing superficial renunciation. He warns that outward ascetic symbols, if motivated by pride or pretense, mislead the practitioner and fail to produce liberation.