Shloka 23
अध्वर्यु–यति संवादः
Adhvaryu–Yati Dialogue on Svabhāva, Ahiṃsā, and Mokṣa
प्राणादाने निवृत्तोडसि हिंसायां वर्तते भवान् | नास्ति चेष्टा विना हिंसां कि वा त्वं मन्यसे द्विज
prāṇādāne nivṛtto 'si hiṁsāyāṁ vartate bhavān | nāsti ceṣṭā vinā hiṁsāṁ kiṁ vā tvaṁ manyase dvija || prāṇo jihvā manaḥ sattvaṁ sadbhāvo rajasā saha | bhāvair etair vimuktasya nirdvandvasya nirāśiṣaḥ ||
Le brahmane dit : «Tu t’es retiré de l’acte d’ôter la vie, et pourtant tu te meuves encore dans la sphère de la violence. Car nulle action n’est possible sans quelque dommage : qu’en penses-tu, ô deux-fois-né ? Le souffle vital, la langue et l’esprit—avec les qualités de sattva et de rajas—sont les dispositions intérieures qui poussent l’existence incarnée. Mais pour celui qui est délivré de ces impulsions, au-delà des paires d’opposés et sans désir de fruits, la peur ne surgit nulle part, en aucun temps.»
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse argues that embodied action inevitably entails some harm, so ethical life cannot be reduced to mere external non-killing; true freedom is inner—release from compulsive impulses (mind, speech/taste, vital drives and guṇas), becoming desireless and beyond dualities, which yields fearlessness.
A Brahmin addresses a ‘dvija’ in a reflective dialogue on dharma, challenging a simplistic claim of non-violence by pointing out that ordinary activity still participates in harm, and then describing the liberated person who transcends such binding dispositions.