Shloka 26

तृष्णाक्षय-उपदेशः

Instruction on the Cessation of Craving

Devanagari script

नानाशन:ः स्यान्न महाशन:ः स्या- दलोलुप: साधुभिरागत: स्यात्‌ | यात्रार्थभाहारमिहाददीत तथास्यथ स्याज्जाठरी द्वारगुप्ति:

Transliteration

nānāśanaḥ syān na mahāśanaḥ syād alolupaḥ sādhubhir āgataḥ syāt | yātrārthabhāhāram ihādadīta tathāsyatha syāj jāṭharī dvāraguptiḥ ||

Translation

Kapila dạy sự điều độ có kỷ luật: chớ ăn uống bừa bãi, cũng chớ ăn quá độ; chớ để lòng tham ăn chi phối, và hãy gần gũi bậc hiền thiện. Chỉ nhận lấy dưỡng chất vừa đủ để duy trì mạng sống, thì “cánh cửa của bụng”—xung lực ham muốn—được gìn giữ, để tự chủ và sự vững vàng nội tâm không bị lay chuyển.

Word by Word

• {'nānāśanaḥ': 'one who eats variously/at random

• indiscriminate eating', 'mahāśanaḥ': 'a great eater

• gluttonous', 'alolupaḥ': 'not greedy

• free from craving', 'sādhubhiḥ': 'with the good/virtuous persons', 'āgataḥ': 'associated with

• having come into company', 'yātrārtha': 'for the sake of maintenance/sustenance of life', 'āhāra': 'food

• nourishment', 'iha': 'here (in this life/discipline)', 'ādadīta': 'should take/accept', 'jāṭharī': 'belonging to the belly/stomach

• gastric (fire/appetite) contextually', 'dvāra': 'gate

• entrance', 'guptiḥ': 'guarding

Speaker

कपिल उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kapila
• sādhavaḥ (the virtuous)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Practice moderation and restraint in food: avoid indiscriminate eating and overeating, abandon greed for taste, keep the company of the virtuous, and take only what sustains life—this guards the appetite and supports self-mastery.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and renunciation, Kapila speaks as a teacher, laying down practical rules of conduct—especially dietary discipline and association with sādhus—as part of a broader ethical and ascetic regimen.