Shloka 3
Adhyāya 262: Śabda-brahman, Para-brahman, and the Ethics of Tyāga
Kapila–Syūmaraśmi Saṃvāda
ततो यज्ञ: प्रभवति नास्तिक्यमपि जल्पसि । न हि वर्तेदयं लोको वार्तामुत्सृज्य केवलाम्
tato yajñaḥ prabhavati nāstikyam api jalpasi | na hi varted ayaṃ loko vārtām utsṛjya kevalām ||
«De tels moyens d’existence et de tels travaux productifs naissent le yajña et les rites qui soutiennent la société. Et pourtant, tu parles même le langage de l’incrédulité. Si, par souci de la souffrance des animaux, on abandonnait entièrement l’agriculture et les autres occupations nécessaires, la vie de ce monde ne pourrait se poursuivre.»
तुलाधार उवाच
Educational Q&A
Tulādhāra argues that society’s sustaining rites (yajña) depend on necessary livelihoods (vārttā). Ethical concern for harm must be balanced with the practical requirements that keep the world functioning; total abandonment of productive work would collapse social life.
In a dharma-discussion, Tulādhāra rebukes his interlocutor for speaking in a nāstika (denialist) manner and explains that if one rejects agriculture and other livelihoods due to concern for animal suffering, the world’s ordinary life and its sacrificial order would not continue.