Shloka 21
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
कभी सूखे पत्ते और पेड़से गिरे हुए फलोंको ही खाकर रह जाता है। इस प्रकार सिद्धि पानेकी अभिलाषासे वह नाना प्रकारके कठोर नियमोंका सेवन करता है ।।
kadā śuṣkāni parṇāni vṛkṣāt patitāni phalāni caiva bhakṣayitvā tiṣṭhati | evaṃ siddhi-prāpty-abhilāṣayā sa nānā-vidhān kaṭhorān niyamān sevate || cāndrāyaṇāni vidhivat liṅgāni vividhāni ca | cāturāśramya-panthānam āśrayaty apathān api ||
婆悉吒说道：“有时他只以枯叶与树上坠落的果实为生。因渴求成就，他修持种种严厉的戒行。有时他依仪轨奉行月行誓（Cāndrāyaṇa），并佩戴各类外在宗教标识；有时他遵循四住期（四阿湿罗摩）的正道，而有时竟也依附于相反而不正当的道路。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Severe austerities and formal vows can be undertaken from a desire for ‘siddhi’ (attainment), but such ambition may lead to inconsistency—alternating between proper discipline and improper paths, or substituting outward signs for inner restraint. The verse cautions that dharma is not secured by display or extremity alone, but by right intention and steady, lawful conduct.
Vasiṣṭha describes a practitioner who sometimes lives on fallen fruits and dry leaves, sometimes performs the Cāndrāyaṇa vow correctly, and sometimes adopts various religious insignia. Yet his conduct is unstable: he alternates between the legitimate framework of the four āśramas and contrary ways, illustrating a spiritually ambitious but ethically unreliable pattern.