Shloka 13
कपिल–स्यूमरश्मि संवादः
Kapila and Syūmaraśmi on Renunciation, Householder Support, and Epistemic Authority
यथान्धबधिरोन्मत्ता उच्छवासपरमा: सदा । देवैरपिहितद्वारा: सोपमा पश्यतो मम
yathāndhabadhironmattā ucchvāsaparamāḥ sadā | devair apihitadvārāḥ sopamā paśyato mama ||
Tulādhāra said: “Just as blind, deaf, and deranged people—whose gateways of perception (eyes, ears, and the like) have been shut by the gods—continue always with nothing but the act of breathing, so too is my condition, though I am one who sees. In other words, even while seeing I do not ‘see’, while hearing I do not ‘hear’, and I do not let the mind run toward sense-objects; I remain as a witness, sustaining only the bare activity of inhalation and exhalation.”
तुलाधार उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches inner detachment and mastery over the senses: the wise person remains a mere witness (sākṣin), not appropriating sensory experience as ‘I see/I hear,’ and not letting the mind chase objects—living with minimal, necessary activity, symbolized by simple breathing.
Tulādhāra describes his own spiritual state to his interlocutor: although he appears to function normally, he claims to be like one whose sense-gates are closed—engaging the world without inner grasping, maintaining equanimity and non-involvement while continuing basic life-functions.