Shloka 5
Adhyāya 262: Śabda-brahman, Para-brahman, and the Ethics of Tyāga
Kapila–Syūmaraśmi Saṃvāda
नमो ब्राह्मणयज्ञाय ये च यज्ञविदो जना: । स्वयज्ञं ब्राह्मणा हित्वा क्षत्रयज्ञमिहास्थिता:,विप्र! ब्राह्मणोंके लिये जिस यज्ञका विधान है, उसको तो मैं नमस्कार करता हूँ और जो लोग उस यज्ञको ठीक-ठीक जानते हैं, उनके चरणोंमें भी मस्तक झुकाता हूँ, किंतु खेद है, इस समय ब्राह्मणलोग अपने यज्ञका परित्याग करके क्षत्रियोचित यज्ञोंके अनुष्ठानमें प्रवृत्त हो रहे हैं
namo brāhmaṇayajñāya ye ca yajñavido janāḥ | svayajñaṃ brāhmaṇā hitvā kṣatrayajñam ihāsthitāḥ, vipra! |
“Reverence to the Brahmin’s own sacrifice, and reverence as well to those people who truly understand sacrifice. Yet, O Brahmin, it is a matter of regret that Brahmins here, abandoning their proper sacrificial discipline, have taken to rites and pursuits suited to the Kṣatriya—turning away from their own dharma toward another’s.”
चुलाधार उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cūlādhāra emphasizes svadharma: each social and ethical role has its own proper discipline. He honors true knowledge of yajña, but criticizes Brahmins who abandon their own prescribed religious-ethical practice and take up Kṣatriya-like pursuits, implying that role-confusion undermines dharma.
In a didactic exchange in Śānti Parva, Cūlādhāra addresses a Brahmin (vipra). He offers respectful homage to the Brahminical ideal of yajña and to its genuine experts, then laments a contemporary decline: Brahmins are forsaking their own path and engaging in warrior-type rites and conduct.