Shloka 20
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
कभी वह गोमूत्रका भोजन करनेवाला बनता है। कभी वह साग, फूल या सेवार खाता है तथा कभी जलका आचमन मात्र करके जीवन-निर्वाह करता है ।।
vartayan śīrṇaparṇaiś ca prakīrṇaphalabhojanaḥ | vividhāni ca kṛcchrāṇi sevate siddhikāṅkṣayā ||
Vasiṣṭha nói: “Có khi ông lấy nước tiểu bò làm thức ăn. Có khi ông ăn rau, hoa hay tảo; có khi chỉ súc miệng bằng nước mà cầm hơi. Sống nhờ lá úa và những trái rụng vương vãi, ông thực hành nhiều thứ khổ hạnh nghiêm khắc, vì khát vọng đạt được siddhi—thành tựu tinh thần.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that spiritual progress (siddhi) is pursued through disciplined simplicity and endurance of hardship (kṛcchra), emphasizing mastery over appetite and comfort as an ethical-spiritual training rather than mere suffering.
Vasiṣṭha describes an ascetic’s way of living: sustaining himself on minimal, naturally available food like withered leaves and fallen fruits, and deliberately practising varied austerities with the aim of attaining spiritual accomplishment.