Shloka 47
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 ||
ಜನಕನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಕಾಷಾಯವಸ್ತ್ರಧಾರಣೆ, ಶಿರೋಮುಂಡನ, ತ್ರಿದಂಡದೊಡನೆ ಕಮಂಡಲು ಧಾರಣೆ—ಇವು ಕೇವಲ ಬಾಹ್ಯ ಗುರುತುಗಳಾಗಿ ಅಹಂಕಾರಕ್ಕೂ ಕುಮಾರ್ಗಕ್ಕೂ ಕಾರಣವಾದರೆ, ನನ್ನ ಮತದಲ್ಲಿ ಇವು ಮೋಕ್ಷಸಾಧನಗಳಲ್ಲ.
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.