Shloka 26
Vidyā–Avidyā and the Twenty-Fifth Principle
Sāṃkhya–Yoga Clarification
असंतोष दुःखका ही कारण है। लोभसे मन और इन्द्रियाँ चंचल होती हैं, उससे मनुष्यकी बुद्धि उसी प्रकार नष्ट हो जाती है, जैसे बिना अभ्यासके विद्या ।।
naṣṭaprajño yadā tu syāt tadā nyāyaṃ na paśyati | tasmāt sukhakṣaye prāpte pumān ugraṃ tapaś caret ||
Wika ni Parāśara: Kapag nasira ang pag-unawa ng tao, hindi na niya nakikita ang makatarungan at tama. Kaya kapag humina ang ligaya at dumating ang kagipitan, dapat siyang magsagawa ng mahigpit na tapas—sariling disiplina na nagpapatahimik sa isip at nagbabalik ng linaw—sa halip na magpadala sa balisang pagnanasa.
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
If discernment collapses, a person cannot recognize justice (nyāya). Hence, when pleasure diminishes and hardship comes, one should respond with disciplined austerity (tapas)—self-restraint that stabilizes the mind and revives right judgment.
In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, the sage Parāśara delivers moral instruction: he diagnoses the danger of ruined intellect and prescribes tapas as a corrective path when life’s सुख (happiness) declines.