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 ||
ジャナカ王は言った。「赭(かしゃ)色の衣をまとい、頭を剃り、杖に掛けた水瓶(カマンダル)を携える——それらがただ外形の徽(しるし)となって虚栄を生み、誤った道へ人を導くなら、私の見解では解脱の手段ではない。解脱は装いと誇示によって確かなものとなるのではなく、内なる規律と正しい理解によって成就するのだ。」
जनक उवाच
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.