Shloka 19
अध्वर्यु–यति संवादः
Adhvaryu–Yati Dialogue on Svabhāva, Ahiṃsā, and Mokṣa
अध्वर्युर्वाच भूमेर्गन्धगुणान् भुड्क्षे पिबस्पापोमयान् रसान् । ज्योतिषां पश्यसे रूप॑ स्पृशस्यनिलजान् गुणान्,अध्वर्युने कहा--यते! यह तो तुम मानते ही हो कि सभी भूतोंमें प्राण है, तो भी तुम पृथ्वीके गन्ध गुणोंका उपभोग करते हो, जलमय रसोंको पीते हो, तेजके गुण? रूपका दर्शन करते हो और वायुके गुण स्पर्शको छूते हो, आकाशजनित शब्दोंको सुनते हो और मनसे मतिका मनन करते हो
adhvaryur uvāca: bhūmer gandha-guṇān bhuṅkṣe pibaś cāpomayān rasān | jyotiṣāṁ paśyase rūpaṁ spṛśasy anilajān guṇān ||
The Adhvaryu said: “You partake of the earth’s quality of fragrance; you drink the watery tastes; you behold form, the quality of fire/light; and you touch the tactile qualities born of wind. Though you affirm that life pervades all beings, you still engage the senses with their respective objects—so how do you reconcile your claim with your lived experience?”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the linkage between the senses and the elemental qualities (smell–earth, taste–water, form–fire/light, touch–wind). It challenges a purely verbal claim about universal life/spirit by pointing to embodied experience: one still engages sense-objects, so one must explain how such engagement fits with one’s philosophical position and ethical restraint.
In a didactic exchange, the Adhvaryu priest addresses the interlocutor (in this section framed as a Brahmin speaker elsewhere) and argues by enumeration of sensory enjoyments. He uses the standard mapping of elements to qualities to press a question about consistency between doctrine and conduct.