Shloka 54
तृष्णाक्षय-उपदेशः
Instruction on the Cessation of Craving
नैर्गुण्यमेव पश्यन्ति न गुणाननुयुञ्जते । तेषां तम:शरीराणां तम एव परायणम्
nairguṇyam eva paśyanti na guṇān anuyuñjate | teṣāṃ tamaḥśarīrāṇāṃ tama eva parāyaṇam ||
ກະປິລາກ່າວວ່າ: “ພວກເຂົາເຫັນແຕ່ສະພາວະທີ່ປາດສະຈາກຄຸນຄ່າອັນສູງ ແລະບໍ່ພະຍາຍາມບຳລຸງຄຸນທຳ. ສຳລັບຜູ້ທີ່ຮ່າງກາຍແລະຈິດໃຈຈົມຢູ່ໃນຄວາມມືດ (tamas) ຄວາມມືດນັ້ນເອງກາຍເປັນທີ່ພຶ່ງສູງສຸດ ແລະເປັນທີ່ໄປສຸດທ້າຍ.”
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kapila warns that people dominated by tamas dismiss disciplines like self-control and the pursuit of knowledge and virtue; when one refuses to cultivate higher qualities, one’s ‘refuge’ becomes tamas itself—habitual ignorance and inertia.
Within Kapila’s instruction in the Śānti Parva, he characterizes a class of persons who neither value nor practice the cultivation of guṇas (especially sattvic virtues). He explains their psychological condition: being tamasic in constitution, they naturally cling to tamas as their support.