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:,पहले वह कर्मका अनुमोदन करता है, उसके बाद जीवकी उस कर्ममें प्रवृत्ति होती है। इस प्रकार हृदयमें प्रकट होनेवाला परमात्मा ही गुरु, ज्ञानी, श्रोता और द्वेष्टा है
tasya cānumate karma tataḥ paścāt pravartate | gurur boddhā ca śrotā ca dveṣṭā ca hṛdi niḥsṛtaḥ |
Only with His assent does an action receive approval; thereafter the embodied being is set in motion toward that very act. Thus, the Supreme Self—manifest from within the heart—functions as the teacher, the knower, the hearer, and even the one who rejects.
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.