Shloka 15
अव्यक्त–प्रकृति–इन्द्रियविचारः
The Unmanifest, Prakṛtis, and the Sense-Complex
प्रसक्तबुद्धिर्विषयेषु यो नरो न बुध्यते हयात्महितं कथंचन । स सर्वभावानुगतेन चेतसा नृपामिषेणेव झषो विकृष्यते
prasaktabuddhir viṣayeṣu yo naro na budhyate hy ātma-hitaṃ kathaṃcana | sa sarva-bhāvānugatena cetasā nṛpāmiṣeṇeva jhaṣo vikṛṣyate ||
यो नरः प्रसक्तबुद्धिर्विषयेषु स कथंचन स्वात्महितं न बुध्यते। नृप, यथा झषो नृपामिषेणेव लोभितः शूलेन विकृष्यते दुःखमाप्नोति, तथा स सर्ववासनानुगतेन चेतसा विषयानाकृष्यते शोकमवाप्नोति॥
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Attachment of the intellect to sense-objects destroys discernment of one’s true good (ātma-hita). Craving-laden mind pulls a person toward pleasures that end in suffering, like a fish drawn by bait to a hook.
Parāśara is instructing a king, using a vivid simile: the baited hook and fish. The verse functions as moral counsel within Śānti Parva’s broader teaching on restraint, right understanding, and the causes of bondage and sorrow.