Shloka 20
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
कभी वह गोमूत्रका भोजन करनेवाला बनता है। कभी वह साग, फूल या सेवार खाता है तथा कभी जलका आचमन मात्र करके जीवन-निर्वाह करता है ।।
vartayan śīrṇaparṇaiś ca prakīrṇaphalabhojanaḥ | vividhāni ca kṛcchrāṇi sevate siddhikāṅkṣayā ||
वसिष्ठ म्हणाले—सुकलेल्या पानांवर व विखुरलेल्या पडलेल्या फळांवर उपजीविका करून, सिद्धीची आकांक्षा बाळगून तो अनेक प्रकारचे कठोर कृच्छ्र (तप-नियम) आचरतो।
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that spiritual progress (siddhi) is pursued through disciplined simplicity and endurance of hardship (kṛcchra), emphasizing mastery over appetite and comfort as an ethical-spiritual training rather than mere suffering.
Vasiṣṭha describes an ascetic’s way of living: sustaining himself on minimal, naturally available food like withered leaves and fallen fruits, and deliberately practising varied austerities with the aim of attaining spiritual accomplishment.