Shloka 26
Uttanka’s Inquiry and Vāsudeva’s Adhyātma Exposition
Guṇa–Ritual–Immanence Teaching
कौमारं ब्रह्मचर्य ते जानामि द्विजसत्तम | दुःखार्जितस्य तपसस्तस्मान्नेच्छामि ते व्ययम्
kaumāraṁ brahmacaryaṁ te jānāmi dvijasattama | duḥkhārjitasya tapasas tasmān necchāmi te vyayam ||
Vāyu dit : « Ô le meilleur des deux-fois-nés, je connais bien le brahmacarya que tu observes depuis l’enfance. C’est pourquoi je ne veux te causer aucune perte dans ton austérité, péniblement amassée au prix de l’épreuve. »
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Austerity (tapas) and lifelong self-restraint (brahmacarya) are hard-won spiritual capital; even a deity should not casually diminish or waste another’s accumulated merit. The verse highlights ethical restraint and reverence toward disciplined virtue.
Vāyudeva addresses a revered twice-born ascetic, acknowledging his lifelong brahmacarya and the hardship through which his tapas was accumulated, and declares that he does not wish to cause any loss to that ascetic power.