Shloka 14

नारद–असित (देवल) संवादः — भूतप्रभवाप्यय, इन्द्रिय-गुण-विवेक, क्षेत्रज्ञ-तत्त्व

Devanagari script

देवयाना हि पन्थानश्षत्वार: शाश्वता मता: । एषां ज्याय: कनीयस्त्वं फलेषूक्तं बलाबलम्‌,चारों आश्रम ही देवयाननामक चार सनातन मार्ग माने गये हैं। इनमें कौन बड़ा है कौन छोटा; अतः कौन प्रबल है, कौन दुर्बल--यह उनके फलोंको निमित्त बनाकर बताया गया है

Transliteration

devayānā hi panthānaś catvāraḥ śāśvatā matāḥ | eṣāṃ jyāyaḥ kanīyastvaṃ phaleṣūktaṃ balābalam ||

Translation

Kapila disse: “Os quatro caminhos conhecidos como ‘devayāna’ são tidos por eternos. Entre eles, qual é mais alto e qual é mais baixo—e, de fato, qual é mais forte e qual é mais fraco—pode ser compreendido ao considerar os frutos que produzem.”

Word by Word

देवयानाḥdivine paths (devayāna-s)

हिindeed/for

पन्थानःpaths/ways

चत्वारःfour

शाश्वताःeternal/perennial

मताःconsidered/held to be

एषाम्of these

ज्यायःthe greater/superior

कनीयस्त्वम्inferiority/being the lesser

फलेषुin (their) results/fruits

उक्तम्is stated/has been said

बलाबलम्strength and weakness

Speaker

कपिल उवाच

Characters & Entities

Kapila

devayāna

four paths (implicitly the four āśramas)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Kapila teaches that the relative excellence of the four devayāna paths is judged by their fruits—i.e., the ethical and spiritual results they produce—rather than by name, status, or mere external form.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instructional dialogue, Kapila is explaining a framework of four perennial spiritual disciplines (understood as the four āśramas) and introducing a criterion for comparing them: their outcomes (phala), which reveal their true strength or weakness.