Shloka 4

अध्वर्यु–यति संवादः

Adhvaryu–Yati Dialogue on Svabhāva, Ahiṃsā, and Mokṣa

Devanagari script

अकामयानस्य च सर्वकामा- नविद्विषाणस्य च सर्वदोषान्‌ | न मे स्वभावेषु भवन्ति लेपा- स्तोयस्य बिन्दोरिव पुष्करेषु

Transliteration

akāmāyanasya ca sarvakāmān avidviṣāṇasya ca sarvadoṣān | na me svabhāveṣu bhavanti lepās toyasya bindor iva puṣkareṣu ||

Translation

ब्राह्मण कहते हैं—मैं समस्त काम्य वस्तुओं में से किसी की भी कामना नहीं करता और समस्त दोषों के प्रति भी द्वेष नहीं रखता। जैसे कमल-पत्र पर जल-बिन्दु नहीं चिपकता, वैसे ही मेरे स्वभाव पर राग-द्वेष का लेप नहीं लगता।

Word by Word

• {'akāmāyanasya': 'of one who does not desire

• free from craving', 'sarva-kāmān': 'all desires

• all objects of enjoyment', 'avidviṣāṇasya': 'of one who does not hate

• free from aversion', 'sarva-doṣān': 'all faults/defects

• all vices', 'na me': 'not to me

• in me not', 'svabhāveṣu': 'in (my) dispositions/nature

• in innate tendencies', 'bhavanti': 'arise

• come to be', 'lepāḥ': 'stains

• adhesion (figuratively, moral/mental taint)', 'toyasya': 'of water', 'bindoḥ': 'of a drop', 'iva': 'like

• as', 'puṣkareṣu': 'on lotus leaves (lit. in/among lotuses)'}

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (Brahmin speaker)
• पुष्कर (lotus/lotus leaf)
• तोय-बिन्दु (drop of water)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Freedom from both craving (kāma) and hatred (dveṣa) is presented as the mark of inner purity: even when desires and faults exist in the world, they do not ‘stick’ to the disciplined person, like water on a lotus leaf.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Brahmin speaker is articulating his ethical-spiritual stance to others in the Ashvamedhika Parva, using a vivid simile (water on a lotus leaf) to describe his non-attachment and non-aversion.