Shloka 38
परिव्राजक-आचारः (Conduct of the Wandering Renunciant) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 269
कपिल उवाच शरीरपक्ति: कर्माणि ज्ञानं तु परमा गति: । कषाये कर्मभि: पक्वे रसज्ञाने च तिष्ठति
kapila uvāca: śarīrapaktiḥ karmāṇi jñānaṃ tu paramā gatiḥ | kaṣāye karmabhiḥ pakve rasajñāne ca tiṣṭhati ||
Капила сказал: «Деяния “приготавливают” и созревают тело, очищая его и на грубом, и на тонком уровне; но знание — высшая цель. Когда благодаря дисциплинированному действию сгорают пятна ума — страсть, привязанность и прочие, — человек утверждается во вкусе осуществлённого знания».
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Karma (disciplined action) functions as a purifier that matures the embodied person by burning mental impurities (kaṣāya such as attachment and passion), but the final and highest end is jñāna—direct, experiential knowledge—where one abides in the essence (rasa) of realization.
In the Śānti Parva’s instructional dialogue, the sage Kapila is expounding a graded path: actions and practices prepare and cleanse the seeker, and once inner defilements are exhausted, the seeker becomes established in realized knowledge, presented as the supreme destination.