Shloka 15
Sanatsujāta–Dhṛtarāṣṭra Saṃvāda: Brahmacarya and the Formless Brahman
Udyoga Parva 44
एतत् समृद्धमप्यूर्थ्य तपो भवति केवलम् | सत्त्वात् प्रच्यवमानानां संकल्पेन समाहितम्
etat samṛddham apy ūrdhvya tapaḥ bhavati kevalam | sattvāt pracyavamānānāṁ saṅkalpena samāhitam ||
萨那苏阇多说道：“即便这种苦行——以制御诸根为体——丰盛圆熟，若是由那些因缺乏离欲（vairāgya）而堕离萨埵（sattva）之人，以刻意的誓愿聚集并维持，它也不过是通往上界诸天的手段；所得是升天，而非解脱（mokṣa）。”
सनत्युजात उवाच
Educational Q&A
Austerity based on sense-restraint can be powerful, but if it is driven by intention for heavenly reward—especially in one who has slipped from sattvic clarity due to lack of dispassion—it produces only higher-world attainment, not liberation.
In Sanatsujāta’s instruction to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, he distinguishes between spiritually liberating discipline and merit-producing discipline: the same outward practice (tapas/indriya-nigraha) yields different results depending on inner quality (sattva) and motive (saṅkalpa).