Shloka 13
Adhyāya 26 — Ekākṣara-Brahman (“Om”) and the Hṛdayastha Guru
Inner Teacher
तस्य चानुमते कर्म ततः पश्चात् प्रवर्तते । गुरुर्बोद्धा च श्रोता च द्वेष्ट च हृदि निःसृत:
tasya cānumate karma tataḥ paścāt pravartate | gurur boddhā ca śrotā ca dveṣṭā ca hṛdi niḥsṛtaḥ |
Nur mit Seiner Zustimmung erhält eine Handlung Billigung; danach erst wird das verkörperte Wesen (jīva) zu eben dieser Tat in Bewegung gesetzt. So ist das höchste Selbst, das aus dem Herzen hervortritt, Lehrer, Wissender, Hörer und sogar der Verwerfende.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Action is not merely a personal impulse; it is portrayed as proceeding after the assent of the indwelling Supreme Self. The verse frames the inner Self as the ultimate moral and cognitive authority—teacher, knower, hearer, and the one who disapproves—thereby grounding ethical discernment in an inner divine witness.
A Brahmin speaker explains a doctrine of inner governance: the jīva’s engagement in action follows an inner approval, and the presence within the heart is described in multiple roles (guru, knower, hearer, rejecter) to show how guidance and restraint arise from within.