Shloka 45
तृष्णाक्षय-उपदेशः
Instruction on the Cessation of Craving
नौर्नावीव निबद्धा हि स्रोतसा सनिबन्धना । ह्वियमाणा कथं विप्र कुबुद्धींस्तारयिष्यति । एतद् ब्रवीतु भगवानुपपन्नो<5स्म्यधीहि भो:
naur nāvīva nibaddhā hi srotasā sanibandhanā | hviyamāṇā kathaṃ vipra kubuddhīṃs tārayiṣyati | etad bravītu bhagavān upapanno 'smy adhīhi bhoḥ ||
一只船若系在另一只正被水流冲走的船上，便不能把任何人送到预定的彼岸。同样，我们这“业行之舟”被前生诸业的潜在习气（vāsanā）所缚，又随流漂荡——我们这些见解迷误之人，怎能凭它渡过生有之海（bhava-sāgara）？噢，圣者，请为我开示此理：我已来投归依于你，愿你教诲我。
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kapila uses a boat-and-current metaphor to show that action driven by past karmic impressions (vāsanā) and deluded understanding cannot by itself deliver liberation. One must seek right knowledge and proper guidance—hence the request for instruction from the ‘Bhagavān’—so that the means of crossing is not itself dragged by the stream of saṃsāra.
In a didactic dialogue within Śānti Parva, Kapila addresses a brahmin interlocutor and argues that ordinary karmic striving, bound to prior tendencies, is like a boat tied to another boat being swept away: it cannot reach the destination. He then turns to the revered teacher (‘Bhagavān’) and asks for decisive instruction, presenting himself as one who has come for refuge and guidance.