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 ||
जनक बोले—गेरुआ वस्त्र धारण करना, मस्तक मुँडाना और त्रिदण्ड-सहित कमण्डलु रखना—जब ये केवल बाह्य चिह्न बनकर अहंकार और कुमार्ग का कारण हो जाएँ, तो मेरी दृष्टि में ये मोक्ष के साधन नहीं हैं।
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.