Mahabharata 3.201.104 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 104
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
पुण्यादेव प्रव्रजन्ति शुद्धयन्त्यमशनानि च । न मूलफलभभक्षित्वान्न मौनान्नानिलाशनात्
puṇyād eva pravrajanti śuddhayanty amaśanāni ca | na mūla-phala-bhakṣitvān na maunān nānilāśanāt ||
युधिष्ठिर बोले— मनुष्य पुण्य के प्रभाव से ही वास्तव में प्रव्रज्या (संन्यास) को प्राप्त होते हैं, और उपवास भी पुण्य से—अर्थात् निष्काम भाव से—ही शुद्धि का कारण बनता है। केवल फल-मूल खाने से, केवल मौन रहने से, या ‘वायु-आहार’ करने से शुद्धि नहीं होती। अंतःशुद्धि और निष्काम संकल्प के बिना बाह्य तप अपने-आप पवित्र नहीं करता।
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True purification and genuine renunciation arise from puṇya—ethical merit grounded in inner purity and selfless intention—not from external austerities performed mechanically or for display.
Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on the value of ascetic practices, emphasizing that fasting and renunciant disciplines become meaningful only when supported by inner virtue; mere outward vows like fruit-and-root diet, silence, or extreme deprivation do not by themselves confer spiritual purity.
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