Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 15
देवतापितृप्रश्नः — Nārada at Badarīāśrama: the ultimate referent of daiva and pitṛ worship
धर्म नि:श्रेणिमास्थाय किंचित् किंचित् समारुह । कोषकारदवदात्मान वेष्टयन्नानुबुध्यसे
dharma-niḥśreṇim āsthāya kiñcit kiñcit samāruha | koṣakāra-ivad ātmānaṁ veṣṭayannānubudhyase ||
ਧਰਮ-ਰੂਪੀ ਸੀੜ੍ਹੀ ਨੂੰ ਫੜ ਕੇ ਕਦਮ-ਕਦਮ ਉੱਤੇ ਚੜ੍ਹ। ਪਰ ਤੂੰ ਹੋਸ਼ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਰਦਾ—ਰੇਸ਼ਮ ਦੇ ਕੀੜੇ ਵਾਂਗ, ਤੂੰ ਲਾਲਸਾ ਤੇ ਲਗਾਵ ਦੇ ਜਾਲ ਨਾਲ ਆਪਣੇ ਆਪ ਨੂੰ ਹੀ ਲਪੇਟਦਾ ਜਾ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈਂ।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is to be practiced as a gradual ascent—one should progress step by step in discipline and virtue. If one instead follows cravings, one unknowingly entangles oneself, just as a silkworm spins the very cocoon that confines it.
Vyāsa admonishes the listener, urging them to take up dharma as a means of steady elevation. He contrasts this with the listener’s present condition: being absorbed in desires and attachments, they are self-binding and remain unaware of their own entanglement.