Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 11
Cāturhotra as Inner Sacrifice (Yoga-Yajña) and Nārāyaṇa Recitation
हन्ता द्वान्नमिदं विद्वान् पुनर्जनयतीश्वर: । न चान्नाज्जायते तस्मिन् सूक्ष्मो नाम व्यतिक्रम:
hantā dvānnam idaṁ vidvān punar janayatīśvaraḥ | na cānnāj jāyate tasmin sūkṣmo nāma vyatikramaḥ ||
Dijo el brāhmaṇa: “En verdad, el sabio que ‘da muerte’ a este alimento—esto es, que lo consume y con ello disuelve en sí mismo el mundo entero manifestado (simbolizado por el alimento)—siendo el Señor, plenamente capaz, vuelve a ser el generador del alimento y de todo cuanto depende de él. Y de ese alimento, en tal conocedor, no surge ni la más sutil falta o transgresión.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
For the truly wise (vidvān), eating is not a morally binding act that produces fault; it is understood as the absorption of the manifested order (symbolized by food) into the Self/Lord. Such a knower, established in right understanding and non-doership, incurs no ‘subtle transgression’ from food.
A brāhmaṇa speaker explains a metaphysical-ethical point: the wise person who consumes food is likened to the Lord who withdraws the world into himself and then, by sovereign power, generates sustenance again. The statement defends the purity of the knower’s action and frames eating within a cosmic cycle rather than ordinary attachment.