Shloka 14

Adhyāya 39 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s inquiry on attachment (saṅga) and relational restraint

Devanagari script

प्रणवं चाप्यधीयीत ब्राद्मीर्दुर्वसतीर्वसन्‌ । निर्मन्युरपि निर्वाणो यदि स्यात्‌ समदर्शन:,पहले गुरुके घरमें ब्रह्मचर्यका पालन करते हुए क्लेश-सहनपूर्वक निवास करके प्रणवसहित वेदका अध्ययन करना चाहिये। फिर अन्तमें क्रोध त्यागकर शान्तभावसे संन्यास ग्रहण करना चाहिये। यदि संन्यासी हो तो सर्वत्र समान दृष्टि रखे

Transliteration

praṇavaṃ cāpy adhīyīta brāhmīr durvasatīr vasan | nir manyur api nirvāṇo yadi syāt samadarśanaḥ ||

Translation

Soma said: Living in the teacher’s house and enduring hardships while observing brahmacarya, one should study the Veda together with the sacred syllable Oṃ (pranava). In the end, having abandoned anger and become inwardly tranquil, one should take up renunciation; and if one is a renunciant, one should maintain an equal vision toward all beings and situations.

Word by Word

• {'praṇavam': 'the syllable Oṃ

• the sacred sound-symbol prefacing Vedic recitation', 'ca api': 'and also', 'adhīyīta': 'should study

• should recite/learn (Veda)', 'brāhmīḥ': 'pertaining to Brahman/Veda

• Vedic (studies/discipline)', 'durvasatīḥ': 'hard dwellings

• difficult living conditions', 'vasan': 'dwelling

• living', 'nir-manyuḥ': 'free from anger

• without wrath', 'api': 'even

• also', 'nirvāṇaḥ': 'extinguished (of passions)

• peaceful, liberated in disposition', 'yadi': 'if', 'syāt': 'should be

• would be', 'samadarśanaḥ': 'one of equal vision

Speaker

सोम उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Soma
• praṇava (Oṃ)
• guru (teacher, implied)
• Veda (implied by adhīyīta and brāhmīḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a life-sequence of discipline: rigorous brahmacarya and Vedic study (with Oṃ), followed by renunciation grounded in the abandonment of anger and the cultivation of equal vision toward all.

What is happening in the narrative?

Soma is instructing on proper conduct for a seeker: first living with the teacher under austere conditions to learn sacred knowledge, and then, at life’s culmination, adopting sannyasa marked by calmness and impartial perception.