Shloka 51
तृष्णाक्षय-उपदेशः
Instruction on the Cessation of Craving
भवन्तो ज्ञानिनो व्यक्त सर्वतश्ष निरामया: । ऐकात्म्यं नाम कश्चिद्धि कदाचिदुपपद्यते
bhavanto jñānino vyaktaṃ sarvataś ca nirāmayāḥ | aikātmyaṃ nāma kaścid dhi kadācid upapadyate ||
Капила сказал: «Вы, несомненно, люди знания — это всем известно; и вы также со всех сторон свободны от недугов и тягот. Но скажите: достиг ли кто-нибудь из вас когда-либо того, что зовётся “единством Атмана”, — постижения, в котором единый, недвойственный Атман (Брахман) распознаётся как реальность повсюду?»
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kapila distinguishes reputation for learning and outward well-being from the highest inner attainment: aikātmya, the direct realization of the one, non-dual Self as the sole reality everywhere. The verse challenges the interlocutors to examine whether their ‘knowledge’ has matured into transformative realization.
In a didactic exchange in the Śānti Parva, Kapila addresses a group regarded as learned and healthy, and questions them pointedly about whether any of them has actually reached the culminating state of spiritual insight—oneness of Self—rather than merely possessing conventional learning.