Shloka 83
देवतापितृप्रश्नः — Nārada at Badarīāśrama: the ultimate referent of daiva and pitṛ worship
तपोवनेषु ये जातास्तत्रैव निधनं गता: । तेषामल्पतरो धर्म: कामभोगानजानताम्
tapovaneṣu ye jātās tatraiva nidhanaṁ gatāḥ | teṣām alpa-taro dharmaḥ kāma-bhogān ajānatām ||
વ્યાસે કહ્યું—જે તપોવનોમાં જન્મે છે અને ત્યાં જ મૃત્યુ પામે છે, જેમણે કામભોગોનો સ્વાદ જ જાણ્યો નથી—તેમનો ધર્મ તુલનાત્મક રીતે અલ્પ કહેવાય; કારણ કે તે ભોગોની વચ્ચે પરખાઈને ઘડાયો નથી.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma that has never confronted the temptations and complexities of worldly pleasure can be narrower in scope; ethical strength is often measured by how one understands and restrains desire, not merely by avoiding it through isolation.
Vyāsa reflects on the moral status of those who live and die entirely within ascetic forest life, emphasizing that their righteousness is limited because they remain unacquainted with kāma-bhoga (worldly enjoyments) and thus lack the experiential context in which many ethical choices arise.