Shloka 12

Sanatsujāta–Dhṛtarāṣṭra Saṃvāda: Pramāda as Mṛtyu

Chapter 42

Devanagari script

सनत्युजात उवाच निष्कल्मषं तपस्त्वेतत्‌ केवलं परिचक्षते । एतत्‌ समृद्धमप्यूद्धं तपो भवति केवलम्‌,सनत्सुजातने कहा--राजन्‌! यह तप सब प्रकारसे निर्दोष होता है। इसमें भोगवासनारूप दोष नहीं रहता। इसलिये यह विशुद्ध कहा जाता है और इसीलिये यह विशुद्ध तप सकाम तपकी अपेक्षा फलकी दृष्टिसे भी बहुत बढ़ा-चढ़ा होता है

Transliteration

sanatsujāta uvāca niṣkalmaṣaṁ tapas tv etat kevalaṁ paricakṣate | etat samṛddham apy ūḍḍhaṁ tapo bhavati kevalam ||

Translation

サナツジャータは言った。「王よ、この苦行（タパス）は、欲望や利己の汚れに染まらぬ、まったくの無垢として説かれている。まさにその清らかさゆえに、この『清浄なるタパス』は、別の下心を抱いて行う苦行よりも、得られる果においていっそう勝れ、崇高となるのだ。」

Word by Word

• {'sanatsujāta uvāca': 'Sanatsujāta said', 'niṣkalmaṣam': 'stainless

• free from moral blemish or impurity', 'tapas': 'austerity

• inner heat of self-restraint', 'etat': 'this', 'kevalam': 'entirely

• exclusively (here: purely, without admixture of desire)', 'paricakṣate': 'they declare

• they describe/teach', 'samṛddham': 'abundant

• greatly fruitful', 'api': 'even

• although', 'ūḍḍham (ūḍham/ūḍḍham)': 'raised up

• elevated', 'bhavati': 'becomes'}

Speaker

सनत्युजात उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanatsujāta
• the King (Dhṛtarāṣṭra, implied addressee)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sanatsujāta teaches that austerity becomes truly powerful and ethically superior when it is niṣkalmaṣa—untainted by craving for enjoyment, reward, or recognition. Purity of intention makes tapas ‘kevala’ (unmixed) and therefore more elevated in its fruits than goal-driven, desire-laden austerity.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva’s Sanatsujātīya discourse, Sanatsujāta instructs the king (Dhṛtarāṣṭra) on inner discipline and right understanding. Here he emphasizes that the highest form of tapas is the one free from blemish—performed without selfish motives—thereby guiding the king toward ethical clarity amid the looming conflict.