अध्याय १५२: लोभः पापस्य मूलम् — Greed as the Root of Wrongdoing
न चोपलभ्यते तेन न चाश्चर्याणि कुर्वते । निर्विण्णात्मा परोक्षो वा धिक्कृतः पूर्वसाधुषु
na copalabhyate tena na cāścaryāṇi kurvate | nirviṇṇātmā parokṣo vā dhik-kṛtaḥ pūrva-sādhuṣu ||
जो प्राचीन श्रेष्ठ साधूजनांपासून विरक्त होऊन त्यांच्या नजरेआड राहतो आणि त्यांच्या कडून वारंवार धिक्कारला जातो, त्याला ज्ञानप्राप्ती होत नाही; आणि अशा पुरुषाबद्दल लोकांनाही आश्चर्य वा आदर वाटत नाही।
शौनक उवाच
Knowledge does not arise in one who rejects and avoids the guidance of the earlier righteous elders; being censured by the wise and cut off from their example, he neither gains true understanding nor earns genuine esteem.
Śaunaka states a moral observation within the Śānti-parvan’s instruction: a person who distances himself from venerable, virtuous predecessors and becomes an object of their reproach fails to attain jñāna and is not regarded by others as admirable.