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,कपिलजीने कहा--कर्म स्थूल और सूक्ष्म शरीरकी शुद्धि करनेवाले हैं, किंतु ज्ञान परम गतिरूप है। जब कर्मोंद्वारा चित्तके रागादि दोष जल जाते हैं, तब मनुष्य रस-स्वरूप ज्ञानमें स्थित हो जाता है
kapila uvāca: śarīrapaktiḥ karmāṇi jñānaṃ tu paramā gatiḥ | kaṣāye karmabhiḥ pakve rasajñāne ca tiṣṭhati ||
Wika ni Kapila: “Ang mga gawa ay tila ‘pagluluto’ upang mahubog at luminis ang katawan—sa antas na lantad at sa antas na maselan—ngunit ang tunay na kaalaman ang pinakamataas na hantungan. Kapag, sa pamamagitan ng disiplinadong pagkilos, ang mga dungis ng isip gaya ng pagnanasa at pagkapit ay nasusunog, ang tao’y nananatili sa ‘lasa’ ng natamong kaalaman.”
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.