Shloka 18
Vasiṣṭhasya śokaḥ, Vipāśā–Śatadrū-nāmākaraṇam, Kalmāṣapādasya bhaya-prasaṅgaḥ (Ādi Parva 167)
संहिताध्ययनं कुर्वन् वसन् गुरुकुले च यः । भैक्ष्यमुत्सृष्टमन्येषां भुड्क्ते सम च यदा तदा
saṁhitādhyayanaṁ kurvan vasan gurukule ca yaḥ | bhaikṣyam utsṛṣṭam anyeṣāṁ bhuṅkte sama ca yadā tadā |
गुरुकुले वसन् संहिताध्ययनं कुर्वन्नपि, यः कदाचित्कदाचिदन्येषामुत्सृष्टं भैक्ष्यमश्नाति; अघृणी भूत्वा तस्यैव अन्नस्य गुणान् पुनः पुनः प्रशंसति— तादृशं भ्रातरं तर्कदृष्ट्या परीक्ष्य, फललोभिनमेव मन्ये, न तु नियमपरायणम्।
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Mere Vedic study and residence in a gurukula do not guarantee virtue; a student’s inner motive matters. Attachment to taste, comfort, or praise of food signals craving for ‘fruit’ (reward), which undermines the ideal of disciplined, detached brahmacarya.
A brāhmaṇa speaker criticizes the conduct of a ‘brother’ (a fellow student/peer): despite studying in the gurukula, he eats others’ discarded alms-food whenever available and keeps praising it. The speaker judges this behavior as evidence of fruit-motivated greed rather than principled austerity.