Shloka 98
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
न दुष्करमनाशि त्वं सुकरं हाशनं विना । विशुद्धि चक्षुरादीनां षण्णामिन्द्रियगामिनाम्
na duṣkaram anāśi tvaṁ sukaraṁ hāśanaṁ vinā | viśuddhiś cakṣur-ādīnāṁ ṣaṇṇām indriya-gāminām ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “For one who does not eat, nothing is truly difficult; even what is ordinarily hard becomes easy without food. And by such restraint, the six sense-faculties—beginning with the eye—are purified and brought under control.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Fasting or restraint in eating is presented as a powerful discipline: it makes difficult practices easier and leads to purification and control of the six senses, which otherwise run outward toward their objects.
Yudhiṣṭhira speaks about the practical and ethical value of abstaining from food, linking bodily restraint to inner purification and mastery over the senses—an ascetic, dharmic counsel within the Vana Parva context.