Shloka 30
Dāna-Śreṣṭhatā: Abhaya, Anugraha, and the Ethics of Honoring the Worthy (दानश्रेष्ठता: अभय-अनुग्रह-विप्रपूजा)
एवमेतद् यथा<<वत्थ व्वं ब्राद्मण्यं तात दुर्लभम् | ब्राह्मणे सति चर्षित्वमृषित्वे च तपस्विता
evam etad yathāttha tvaṁ brāhmaṇyaṁ tāta durlabham | brāhmaṇe sati ca ṛṣitvam ṛṣitve ca tapasvitā ||
Cyavana sprach: „Es ist genau, wie du gesagt hast, mein Lieber: wahres Brahmanentum ist schwer zu erlangen. Und selbst wenn man brāhmaṇa ist, ist es noch seltener, ein ṛṣi zu sein; und selbst wenn man ṛṣi ist, ist es seltener noch, wahrhaft asketisch und selbstbeherrscht zu sein.“
च्यवन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse ranks spiritual qualifications: brahminhood is rare, but true sagehood is rarer, and authentic austerity and self-mastery are rarer still—implying that ethical-spiritual excellence is measured by realized discipline, not merely by status.
Cyavana responds approvingly to the listener’s earlier remark about the link between tapas (austerity) and brāhmaṇatva (brahminhood), affirming that these attainments are progressively difficult and therefore especially worthy of reverence.