Mahabharata 12.76.17

12.76.17

tatra medhyeṣvaraṇyeṣu nyastadaṇḍo jitendriyaḥ |
dharmamārādhayiṣyāmi munirmūlaphalāśanaḥ || 17 ||

"Yudhishthira, said, 'I do not, for a moment, desire the happiness that sovereignty bestows or sovereignty itself for its own sake. I desire it, however, for the sake of the merit one may acquire from it. It seems to me that no merit is attached to it. No need for sovereignty then by which no merit can be acquired. I shall, therefore, retire into the woods from desire of earning merit. Laying aside the rod of chastisement, and subduing my senses, I shall go to the woods which are sacred and seek to acquire the merit of righteousness by becoming an ascetic subsisting upon fruit and roots.'