Shloka 15
Sanatsujāta–Dhṛtarāṣṭra Saṃvāda: Brahmacarya and the Formless Brahman
Udyoga Parva 44
एतत् समृद्धमप्यूर्थ्य तपो भवति केवलम् | सत्त्वात् प्रच्यवमानानां संकल्पेन समाहितम्
etat samṛddham apy ūrdhvya tapaḥ bhavati kevalam | sattvāt pracyavamānānāṁ saṅkalpena samāhitam ||
Sanatsujāta berkata: “Walaupun tapa ini—yakni pengekangan indera—menjadi banyak dan matang, ia tetap hanya menjadi jalan untuk mencapai alam-alam yang lebih tinggi, jika ia dihimpun dan dipelihara dengan tekad yang disengajakan oleh mereka yang telah menyimpang daripada sattva kerana kekurangan vairāgya. Amalan demikian memberi kenaikan ke syurga, bukan mokṣa (pembebasan).”
सनत्युजात उवाच
Educational Q&A
Austerity based on sense-restraint can be powerful, but if it is driven by intention for heavenly reward—especially in one who has slipped from sattvic clarity due to lack of dispassion—it produces only higher-world attainment, not liberation.
In Sanatsujāta’s instruction to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, he distinguishes between spiritually liberating discipline and merit-producing discipline: the same outward practice (tapas/indriya-nigraha) yields different results depending on inner quality (sattva) and motive (saṅkalpa).