Daṇḍa as the Foundation of Social Order (दण्डप्रतिष्ठा)
ग्रामान् निष्क्रम्य मुनयो विगतक्रोधमत्सरा: । वने कुट॒म्बधर्माणो दृश्यन्ते परिमोहिता:
grāmān niṣkramya munayo vigata-krodha-matsarāḥ | vane kuṭumba-dharmāṇo dṛśyante parimohitāḥ ||
Arjuna nói: “Nhiều bậc hiền triết, không còn giận dữ và ganh ghét, rời làng mạc đi vào rừng; thế nhưng tại đó, vì mê lầm, người ta vẫn thấy họ bám víu vào nếp sống của gia thất.”
अजुन उवाच
External renunciation—leaving society for the forest—does not by itself ensure inner freedom. Even those who have abandoned anger and envy may still fall into moha (delusion) and reproduce household attachments; true dharma requires inner clarity and detachment, not merely a change of location.
Arjuna raises a pointed observation: sages who depart from villages for forest life are expected to live as renunciants, yet he sees some behaving as if bound to household duties. His question sets up a discussion on the difference between genuine renunciation and attachment disguised as ascetic life.