Mahabharata — Vana Parva, Shloka 106
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
नित्यं हनशनादू् वापि नाग्निशुश्रूषणादपि । न चोदकप्रवेशेन न च क्ष्माशयनादपि
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | nityaṁ hanaśanād vāpi nāgniśuśrūṣaṇād api | na codakapravēśena na ca kṣmāśayanād api ||
Sinabi ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “Hindi nakakamtan ng tao ang kadalisayan o ang pinakamataas na kabutihan sa pamamagitan lamang ng palagiang pag-aayuno, ni sa pag-aalaga sa banal na apoy, ni sa paglulubog sa tubig, ni sa paghiga sa hubad na lupa. Ang ganitong panlabas na pagtitiis, kapag hiwalay sa panloob na puṇya at sa di-makasariling layon, ay hindi sa sarili nito nagdudulot ng tunay na pagdalisay o ng dakilang landas.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
External austerities—fasting, fire-ritual service, ritual bathing, and sleeping on the ground—do not by themselves produce purification or the highest good; inner merit and selfless intention are essential.
In the Vana Parva discourse context, Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on the limits of mere ascetic practices, emphasizing that ethical intention and genuine virtue, not outward observances alone, lead to true spiritual progress.
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