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 ।। वर्तयन् शीर्णपर्णैश्न प्रकीर्णफलभोजन: । विविधानि च कृच्छाणि सेवते सिद्धिकाड्क्षया
vartayan śīrṇaparṇaiś ca prakīrṇaphalabhojanaḥ | vividhāni ca kṛcchrāṇi sevate siddhikāṅkṣayā ||
Vasiṣṭha berkata: “Ada kalanya dia menjadikan air kencing lembu sebagai makanan. Ada kalanya dia makan sayur, bunga atau alga; dan ada kalanya dia hanya beracaman—meneguk air sekadar untuk meneruskan hayat. Dengan memakan daun-daun kering dan buah-buahan yang gugur berserakan, dia menempuh pelbagai bentuk tapa yang berat, didorong oleh hasrat mencapai siddhi (pencapaian rohani).”
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.