Mahabharata 3.201.106 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 106
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
नित्यं हनशनादू् वापि नाग्निशुश्रूषणादपि । न चोदकप्रवेशेन न च क्ष्माशयनादपि
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | nityaṁ hanaśanād vāpi nāgniśuśrūṣaṇād api | na codakapravēśena na ca kṣmāśayanād api ||
Yudhiṣṭhira dit : «On n’obtient ni la pureté ni le bien suprême par le seul jeûne continuel, ni en servant le feu sacré, ni en s’immergeant dans l’eau, ni en dormant sur la terre nue. De telles austérités extérieures, séparées du mérite intérieur et de l’intention désintéressée, ne donnent pas d’elles-mêmes la purification véritable ni la voie suprême.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
External austerities—fasting, fire-ritual service, ritual bathing, and sleeping on the ground—do not by themselves produce purification or the highest good; inner merit and selfless intention are essential.
In the Vana Parva discourse context, Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on the limits of mere ascetic practices, emphasizing that ethical intention and genuine virtue, not outward observances alone, lead to true spiritual progress.
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