Shloka 20
अध्वर्यु–यति संवादः
Adhvaryu–Yati Dialogue on Svabhāva, Ahiṃsā, and Mokṣa
शृणोष्याकाशजान् शब्दान् मनसा मन्यसे मतिम् । सर्वाण्येतानि भूतानि प्राणा इति च मन्यसे,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
śṛṇoṣy ākāśajān śabdān manasā manyase matim | sarvāṇy etāni bhūtāni prāṇā iti ca manyase ||
The Brahmin said: “You hear the sounds that arise from space; with the mind you reflect and form judgments. And you also hold that all these beings are, in truth, ‘life-breath’ (prāṇa).” In context, the statement presses an ethical point: even while affirming that life pervades all beings, one still engages the senses and the inner faculty of thought—so one must examine how sense-enjoyment and mental constructions relate to one’s claim of reverence for life and to one’s discipline of restraint.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a tension between metaphysical belief and lived conduct: one may affirm that all beings are pervaded by prāṇa (life), yet one still operates through sensory experience (hearing) and inner cognition (mental judgment). The implied teaching is to scrutinize attachment to sense-objects and mental constructions, and to align one’s claims about reverence for life with disciplined, ethical restraint.
A Brahmin speaker addresses an interlocutor in a didactic exchange, pointing out what the other person experiences and believes: hearing sounds arising from ākāśa, forming judgments with the mind, and maintaining the view that all beings are prāṇa. The line functions as part of a broader philosophical argument about the elements, the senses, and the proper understanding of life and conduct.