Shloka 23
तृष्णाक्षय-उपदेशः
Instruction on the Cessation of Craving
चतुर्द्धारें पुरुषं चतुर्मुखं चतुर्धा चैनमुपयाति वाचा । बाहुभ्यां वाच उदरादुपस्थात् तेषां द्वारं द्वारपालो बुभूषेत्
caturdvāre puruṣaṃ caturmukhaṃ caturdhā cainam upayāti vācā | bāhubhyāṃ vāca udarād upasthāt teṣāṃ dvāraṃ dvārapālo bubhūṣet ||
迦毗罗说道：“人身有四门，亦有四面。以受训之言行，可由四途而近之：由双臂（行为）、由言语本身、由腹（食欲）、由生殖器（欲念冲动）。人当愿为此四门之守门者——即加以节制与统御。依诸论典（śāstra）之教，能制伏此四门，便可由四道而证得至上之人（Purusha）——其具‘四面’，如四部吠陀：奉爱之道、智知之道、业行之道，以及八支瑜伽之道。”
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches disciplined restraint over four key ‘gates’ of human conduct—actions (arms), speech, appetite (belly), and sexual impulse (genitals). By becoming their ‘gatekeeper’ (dvārapāla), one aligns with śāstric discipline and becomes fit to attain the Supreme Person through recognized spiritual paths.
Kapila is instructing a listener in the Śānti Parva’s philosophical discourse. He uses a metaphor of a four-gated person and urges mastery over bodily and verbal impulses, linking such mastery to attaining the Supreme Puruṣa, symbolically associated with the four Vedas and approached through four yogic means.