Shloka 15
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
वस्त्राणि चान्यानि बहुन्यभिमन्यत्यबुद्धिमान् । भोजनानि विचित्राणि रत्नानि विविधानि च,वह अज्ञानी जीव इनके अतिरिक्त भी नाना प्रकारके वस्त्र पहनता, विचित्र-विचित्र भोजनोंके स्वाद लेता और भाँति-भाँतिके रत्न धारण करता है
vasistha uvāca | vastrāṇi cānyāni bahūny abhimanyaty abuddhimān | bhojanāni vicitrāṇi ratnāni vividhāni ca |
Vasiṣṭha berkata: “Orang yang bodoh bermegah kerana memiliki pelbagai jenis pakaian. Dia mencari makanan yang aneka dan mewah, serta menghiasi diri dengan permata yang bermacam-macam—menyangka perolehan lahiriah itu sebagai nilai dan kesejahteraan yang sejati.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
External luxuries—fine clothes, rich foods, and jewels—can inflate pride and delusion. Vasiṣṭha highlights that such possessions are not the measure of true good; discernment and inner virtue are.
In a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, Vasiṣṭha is instructing by pointing to the behavior of an undiscerning person who chases and boasts of sensory enjoyments and adornments, implying a moral critique and urging a higher standard of value.