Shloka 38
परिव्राजक-आचारः (Conduct of the Wandering Renunciant) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 269
कपिल उवाच शरीरपक्ति: कर्माणि ज्ञानं तु परमा गति: । कषाये कर्मभि: पक्वे रसज्ञाने च तिष्ठति
kapila uvāca: śarīrapaktiḥ karmāṇi jñānaṃ tu paramā gatiḥ | kaṣāye karmabhiḥ pakve rasajñāne ca tiṣṭhati ||
迦毗罗说道：“诸行如同‘烹炼’其身，使粗身与细身皆得净化；而真知则为至上归趣。当人以有纪律的行持焚尽心中垢染，如贪欲与执著等，便安住于证悟之智的甘露之味。”
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Karma (disciplined action) functions as a purifier that matures the embodied person by burning mental impurities (kaṣāya such as attachment and passion), but the final and highest end is jñāna—direct, experiential knowledge—where one abides in the essence (rasa) of realization.
In the Śānti Parva’s instructional dialogue, the sage Kapila is expounding a graded path: actions and practices prepare and cleanse the seeker, and once inner defilements are exhausted, the seeker becomes established in realized knowledge, presented as the supreme destination.