Shloka 4
Jājali’s Austerities and the Summons to Tulādhāra (जाजलि–तुलाधार-इतिहासः)
उपासते महावृक्ष॑ सुलुब्धास्तत्फलेप्सव: । आयसै: संयुता: पाशै: फलदं परिवेष्ट्य तम्,लोभी मनुष्य लोहेकी जंजीरोंके समान वासनाके बन्धनोंमें बँधकर उस फलदायक महान् वृक्षको चारों ओरसे घेरकर आस-पास बैठे हैं और उसके फलको प्राप्त करना चाहते हैं
upāsate mahāvṛkṣaṃ sulubdhās tat-phalepṣavaḥ | āyasaiḥ saṃyutāḥ pāśaiḥ phaladaṃ pariveṣṭya tam ||
व्यास उवाच—लोभपरायणाः फलार्थिनो मनुष्याः फलप्रदं महावृक्षं समुपासते। आयसैः पाशैरिव वासनाबन्धैः संयुताः तं फलदं वृक्षं सर्वतः परिवेष्ट्योपविशन्ति, फलप्राप्त्याशया तृष्णया च प्रेरिताः।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Craving for results (phala) turns the mind into a captive: people ‘worship’ what they want to exploit, yet their very desire becomes an iron-like bond (pāśa) that restricts freedom. The verse urges detachment from fruit-seeking and warns against greed masquerading as devotion.
Vyāsa uses a vivid metaphor: greedy men gather around a great fruit-bearing tree, encircle it, and remain near it hoping to obtain its fruits. Their closeness is not true reverence but attachment; they are described as bound by iron-like nooses, symbolizing the constraining power of desire.