Shloka 4

Adhyāya 262: Śabda-brahman, Para-brahman, and the Ethics of Tyāga

Kapila–Syūmaraśmi Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

चुलाधार उवाच वक्ष्यामि जाजले वृत्तिं नास्मि ब्राह्मण नास्तिक: । न यज्ञंच विनिन्दामि यज्ञवित्‌ तु सुदुर्लभ:

Transliteration

culādhāra uvāca | vakṣyāmi jājale vṛttiṃ nāsmi brāhmaṇa nāstikaḥ | na yajñaṃ ca vinindāmi yajñavit tu sudurlabhaḥ ||

Translation

Culādhāra dit : «Ô Jājali, je t’exposerai une manière de subsister qui soit exempte de violence. Ô brāhmane, je ne suis pas un incrédule, et je ne dénigre pas le yajña ; mais celui qui comprend véritablement le sens et le principe du sacrifice est d’une rareté extrême.»

Word by Word

• {'culādhāraḥ': 'Culādhāra (the speaker

• a householder/merchant figure in the dialogue)', 'uvāca': 'said', 'vakṣyāmi': 'I will explain

• I will tell', 'jājale': 'O Jājali (vocative

• the addressed brāhmaṇa/ascetic)', 'vṛttim': 'livelihood

• conduct', 'nāsmi': 'I am not', 'brāhmaṇa': 'O brāhmaṇa

• priestly man (vocative)', 'nāstikaḥ': 'unbeliever

• one who denies (often used for denial of Veda/afterlife/moral order)', 'na ... vinindāmi': 'I do not criticize

• I do not censure', 'yajñam': 'sacrifice

• also the broader principle of sacred duty', 'yajñavit': 'knower of yajña

• one who understands sacrifice in truth', 'tu': 'but

• however', 'sudurlabhaḥ': 'very rare

Speaker

चुलाधार उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Culādhāra
• Jājali
• yajña (sacrifice)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Culādhāra emphasizes that ethical living—especially a livelihood free from harm (ahiṃsā)—is compatible with reverence for Vedic tradition. He does not reject yajña, but warns that genuine understanding of sacrifice (beyond mere external performance) is rare.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Culādhāra–Jājali discourse of the Śānti Parva, Culādhāra addresses the brāhmaṇa Jājali and prepares to instruct him on a non-violent mode of livelihood, while clarifying that he is neither a nāstika nor a critic of yajña—only a critic of shallow or misunderstood ritualism.