Shloka 24
अन्तर्वन-विद्यारण्योपमा
The Allegory of the Inner Forest of Knowledge
एतदेवेदृशं पुण्यमरण्यं ब्राह्मणा विदु: । विदित्वा चानुतिष्ठ त्ति क्षेत्रज्ञेनानुदर्शिता
etad evedṛśaṃ puṇyam araṇyaṃ brāhmaṇā viduḥ | viditvā cānutiṣṭhanti kṣetrajñenānudarśitāḥ ||
Les brahmanes reconnaissent cette forêt même—telle qu’elle est—comme sainte. Et l’ayant comprise, ceux à qui le Connaisseur du Champ (kṣetrajña, le Soi) a montré la vérité s’adonnent à une pratique disciplinée, mettant en œuvre la maîtrise intérieure et les moyens spirituels qui s’y rattachent.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Holiness is not merely a location but a realized understanding: when guided by a true knower of the Self (kṣetrajña), one should translate insight into disciplined practice—inner restraint and sustained spiritual observance.
A Brahmin speaker describes a sacred forest known to the learned and explains that those awakened by instruction from a realized teacher undertake the appropriate spiritual disciplines there, treating the forest as a setting for self-cultivation.