Shloka 20
Vasiṣṭha–Karāla-Janaka Saṃvāda: Aśuddha-Sevana, Guṇa-Dr̥ṣṭi, and Sāṃkhya–Yoga Ekārthatā
Mahābhārata 12.293
अतिक्रामेन्मज्जमानो विविधेन नर: सदा । तथा प्रयत्न कुर्वीत यथा मुच्येत संश्रयात्
atikrāmen majjamāno vividhenā naraḥ sadā | tathā prayatnaṁ kurvīta yathā mucyeta saṁśrayāt ||
Parāśara berkata: “Seperti orang yang sedang tenggelam sentiasa berusaha dengan pelbagai cara untuk menyeberang, demikian juga seseorang harus terus-menerus berikhtiar agar dibebaskan daripada pergantungan dan keterikatan—terlepas daripada lautan kewujudan duniawi.”
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should make sustained, practical effort—like a drowning person using every available means—to free oneself from worldly dependence and attachment, aiming at release from saṁsāra.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional discourse, Parāśara advises the listener through a vivid simile: the urgency and ingenuity of a drowning person becomes the model for spiritual striving toward liberation.