Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 108, Shloka 15
जाबाल्युपदेशः
Jabali’s Pragmatic Counsel to Rama
यदि भुक्तमिहान्येन देहमन्यस्य गच्छति।दद्यात्प्रवसत श्श्राद्धं न तत्पथ्यशनं भवेत्।।।।
yadi bhuktam ihānyena deham anyasya gacchati |
dadyāt pravasataḥ śrāddhaṁ na tat pathyaśanaṁ bhavet ||
Si la nourriture mangée ici par l’un pouvait parvenir et devenir partie du corps d’un autre, alors on pourrait aussi offrir un śrāddha pour quelqu’un simplement parti au loin : cette offrande deviendrait-elle son repas de route ?
Who is whose friend? who is to get what and from whom? Man is born alone and will die alone.
FAQs
It promotes rational scrutiny in ethical life: religious claims should be coherent; otherwise they risk becoming empty ritual rather than dharma grounded in truth (satya).
Bharata uses a reductio-style argument about offerings and bodily transfer to challenge a claim about post-death benefit, pressing Rāma toward a practical, visible basis for action.
Critical intelligence and logical consistency—testing assertions rather than accepting them unexamined.