Shloka 23
Vidyā–Avidyā and the Twenty-Fifth Principle
Sāṃkhya–Yoga Clarification
नाप्राप्यं तपस: किंचित् त्रैलोक्येडपि परंतप । उपभोगपरित्याग: फलान्यकृतकर्मणाम्
nāprāpyaṃ tapasaḥ kiṃcit trailokye ’pi paraṃtapa | upabhoga-parityāgaḥ phalāny akṛta-karmaṇām, paraṃtapa ||
Wika ni Parāśara: “O tagasunog ng mga kaaway, sa tatlong daigdig ay walang bagay na hindi maaabot sa pamamagitan ng matinding pagdidisiplina (tapas). Ngunit para sa mga hindi gumawa ng mga gawang udyok ng pagnanasa o ipinagbabawal, ang bunga ng kanilang tapas ay ito mismo: ang pagtalikod sa mga kalugurang pandama.”
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Austerity has immense power—nothing in the three worlds is beyond it. But the highest and most fitting result of tapas for the ethically restrained (those not driven by desire or transgression) is not acquisition; it is growing detachment and the renunciation of sense-pleasures.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, the sage Parāśara addresses a heroic listener (“Paraṃtapa”), contrasting worldly attainments possible through tapas with the superior spiritual outcome: renunciation for those whose conduct is free from desire-based or forbidden actions.