Shloka 3
ब्राह्मण उवाच अरणीं ब्राह्माणीं विद्धि गुरुरस्पोत्तरारणि: । तपःश्रुतेडभिमथ्नीतो ज्ञानाग्निर्जायते तत:,ब्राह्मणने कहा--देवि! तुम बुद्धिको नीचेकी अरणी और गुरुको ऊपरकी अरणी समझो। तपस्या और वेद-वेदान्तके श्रवण-मननद्वारा मन्थन करनेपर उन अरणियोंसे ज्ञानरूप अग्नि प्रकट होती है
brāhmaṇa uvāca | araṇīṁ brāhmaṇīṁ viddhi gurur asyottarāraṇiḥ | tapaḥ-śruteḍ abhimathnīto jñānāgnir jāyate tataḥ |
The Brahmin said: “Know the intellect to be the lower fire-stick, and the teacher to be its upper fire-stick. When these are churned together through austerity and through hearing and reflecting upon the Veda and Vedānta, the fire of knowledge is born from them.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
True knowledge arises through the combined ‘friction’ of a competent teacher’s guidance and the student’s inner instrument (intellect), energized by disciplined practice (tapas) and sustained listening and reflection on scripture (śruti).
A Brahmin instructs a woman addressed as ‘brāhmaṇī’, using the Vedic image of kindling fire with two araṇis to explain how spiritual insight is generated: guru and intellect, when ‘churned’ by austerity and scriptural study, produce the illuminating fire of knowledge.