Shloka 20
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
कभी वह गोमूत्रका भोजन करनेवाला बनता है। कभी वह साग, फूल या सेवार खाता है तथा कभी जलका आचमन मात्र करके जीवन-निर्वाह करता है ।।
vartayan śīrṇaparṇaiś ca prakīrṇaphalabhojanaḥ | vividhāni ca kṛcchrāṇi sevate siddhikāṅkṣayā ||
ヴァシシュタは言った。「ある時は牛の尿を食として生き、ある時は青菜や花、あるいは藻を食べる。ある時はただ水をアーチャマナ（浄飲）するだけで命をつなぐ。枯れ葉と散り落ちた果実を糧とし、成就（シッディ）を求めて、さまざまな苛烈な苦行を行うのである。」
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that spiritual progress (siddhi) is pursued through disciplined simplicity and endurance of hardship (kṛcchra), emphasizing mastery over appetite and comfort as an ethical-spiritual training rather than mere suffering.
Vasiṣṭha describes an ascetic’s way of living: sustaining himself on minimal, naturally available food like withered leaves and fallen fruits, and deliberately practising varied austerities with the aim of attaining spiritual accomplishment.