Shloka 4

अध्वर्यु–यति संवादः

Adhvaryu–Yati Dialogue on Svabhāva, Ahiṃsā, and Mokṣa

Devanagari script

अकामयानस्य च सर्वकामा- नविद्विषाणस्य च सर्वदोषान्‌ | न मे स्वभावेषु भवन्ति लेपा- स्तोयस्य बिन्दोरिव पुष्करेषु,मैं सम्पूर्ण कामनाओंमेंसे किसीकी कामना नहीं करता। समस्त दोषोंसे भी कभी द्वेष नहीं करता। जैसे कमलके पत्तोंपर जल-बिन्दुका लेप नहीं होता, उसी प्रकार मेरे स्वभावमें राग और द्वेषका स्पर्श नहीं है

Transliteration

akāmāyanasya ca sarvakāmān avidviṣāṇasya ca sarvadoṣān | na me svabhāveṣu bhavanti lepās toyasya bindor iva puṣkareṣu ||

Translation

Der Brahmane sagt: „Ich begehre keines der Objekte des Begehrens, und ich hege keinen Hass, nicht einmal gegen alle Fehler. Wie ein Wassertropfen nicht am Lotusblatt haftet, so haften Anhaftung und Abneigung nicht an meiner Natur.“

Word by Word

• {'akāmāyanasya': 'of one who does not desire

• free from craving', 'sarva-kāmān': 'all desires

• all objects of enjoyment', 'avidviṣāṇasya': 'of one who does not hate

• free from aversion', 'sarva-doṣān': 'all faults/defects

• all vices', 'na me': 'not to me

• in me not', 'svabhāveṣu': 'in (my) dispositions/nature

• in innate tendencies', 'bhavanti': 'arise

• come to be', 'lepāḥ': 'stains

• adhesion (figuratively, moral/mental taint)', 'toyasya': 'of water', 'bindoḥ': 'of a drop', 'iva': 'like

• as', 'puṣkareṣu': 'on lotus leaves (lit. in/among lotuses)'}

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (Brahmin speaker)
• पुष्कर (lotus/lotus leaf)
• तोय-बिन्दु (drop of water)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Freedom from both craving (kāma) and hatred (dveṣa) is presented as the mark of inner purity: even when desires and faults exist in the world, they do not ‘stick’ to the disciplined person, like water on a lotus leaf.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Brahmin speaker is articulating his ethical-spiritual stance to others in the Ashvamedhika Parva, using a vivid simile (water on a lotus leaf) to describe his non-attachment and non-aversion.