Shloka 39
Adhyāya 262: Śabda-brahman, Para-brahman, and the Ethics of Tyāga
Kapila–Syūmaraśmi Saṃvāda
शंस मे तन्महाप्राज्ञ भृशं वै श्रद्धधामि ते । वणिकूपुत्र! यदि इस प्रकार आत्मतीर्थमें पशु अर्थात् अज्ञानी मानव आत्मयज्ञका सौभाग्य नहीं पा सकते तो किस कर्मसे उन्हें सुखकी प्राप्ति हो सकती है? महामते! यह बात मुझे बताओ। मैं तुम्हारे कथनपर अधिक श्रद्धा रखता हूँ || ३८ $ ।।
tulādhāra uvāca | uta yajñā uta ayajñā makhaṁ nāpnuvanti te kvacit |
Jājali berkata: “Wahai yang amat bijaksana, jelaskan itu kepadaku; aku sungguh menaruh keyakinan pada ucapanmu.” Tulādhāra menjawab: “Orang-orang yang berlagak suci, yang ritusnya rusak oleh cacat seperti tiadanya śraddhā (iman), sama sekali tidak mencapai hakikat kurban. Perbuatan mereka tak layak lagi disebut yajña; maka mereka tidak pantas bagi yajña batin (dalam pikiran) maupun yajña lahir (ritual).”
तुलाधार उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ritual without faith and sincerity is not truly a yajña; genuine worship depends on inner purity and śraddhā rather than display or expense, and even simple means can be spiritually complete when grounded in devotion.
Tulādhāra instructs his interlocutor by contrasting hypocritical, faithless ritualists—who fail to attain the fruit of sacrifice—with faithful practitioners, explaining how true completion of sacrifice is tied to sincerity, and symbolically affirming that the faithful poor are not excluded from spiritual fulfillment.