Shloka 20
अध्वर्यु–यति संवादः
Adhvaryu–Yati Dialogue on Svabhāva, Ahiṃsā, and Mokṣa
शृणोष्याकाशजान् शब्दान् मनसा मन्यसे मतिम् । सर्वाण्येतानि भूतानि प्राणा इति च मन्यसे
śṛṇoṣy ākāśajān śabdān manasā manyase matim | sarvāṇy etāni bhūtāni prāṇā iti ca manyase ||
Le brahmane dit : «Tu entends les sons qui naissent de l’espace ; par l’esprit tu médites et tu formes des jugements. Et tu tiens aussi que tous ces êtres sont, en vérité, “prāṇa” (le souffle vital).» Dans son contexte, cette parole presse un point éthique : même en affirmant que la vie pénètre tous les êtres, on continue d’employer les sens et la faculté intérieure de la pensée ; il faut donc examiner comment les jouissances des sens et les constructions mentales s’accordent avec la révérence pour la vie et avec la discipline de la retenue.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a tension between metaphysical belief and lived conduct: one may affirm that all beings are pervaded by prāṇa (life), yet one still operates through sensory experience (hearing) and inner cognition (mental judgment). The implied teaching is to scrutinize attachment to sense-objects and mental constructions, and to align one’s claims about reverence for life with disciplined, ethical restraint.
A Brahmin speaker addresses an interlocutor in a didactic exchange, pointing out what the other person experiences and believes: hearing sounds arising from ākāśa, forming judgments with the mind, and maintaining the view that all beings are prāṇa. The line functions as part of a broader philosophical argument about the elements, the senses, and the proper understanding of life and conduct.