Shloka 5
Adhyāya 262: Śabda-brahman, Para-brahman, and the Ethics of Tyāga
Kapila–Syūmaraśmi Saṃvāda
नमो ब्राह्मणयज्ञाय ये च यज्ञविदो जना: । स्वयज्ञं ब्राह्मणा हित्वा क्षत्रयज्ञमिहास्थिता:
namo brāhmaṇayajñāya ye ca yajñavido janāḥ | svayajñaṃ brāhmaṇā hitvā kṣatrayajñam ihāsthitāḥ, vipra! |
«Hommage au sacrifice propre du brāhmane, et hommage aussi à ceux qui comprennent véritablement le yajña. Pourtant, ô brāhmane, il est affligeant de voir qu’ici des brāhmanes, délaissant la discipline sacrificielle qui leur convient, se sont tournés vers des rites et des entreprises dignes des Kṣatriya, quittant leur dharma pour celui d’autrui.»
चुलाधार उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cūlādhāra emphasizes svadharma: each social and ethical role has its own proper discipline. He honors true knowledge of yajña, but criticizes Brahmins who abandon their own prescribed religious-ethical practice and take up Kṣatriya-like pursuits, implying that role-confusion undermines dharma.
In a didactic exchange in Śānti Parva, Cūlādhāra addresses a Brahmin (vipra). He offers respectful homage to the Brahminical ideal of yajña and to its genuine experts, then laments a contemporary decline: Brahmins are forsaking their own path and engaging in warrior-type rites and conduct.