Shloka 17

Devanagari script

यद्य॒त्र किंचित्‌ प्रत्यक्षमहिंसाया: परं मतम्‌ । ऋते त्वागमशास्त्रेभ्यो ब्रूहि तद्‌ यदि पश्यसि

Transliteration

yady atra kiñcit pratyakṣam ahiṁsāyāḥ paraṁ matam | ṛte tv āgamaśāstrebhyo brūhi tad yadi paśyasi ||

Translation

Kapila berkata: Jika, di luar tradisi kitab-kitab suci, engkau melihat suatu ajaran yang nyata dan langsung yang melampaui ahimsa (tanpa kekerasan)—atau jika engkau dapat menunjukkan hasil yang benar-benar tampak dari ajaran yang mendorong kekerasan—maka nyatakanlah dengan terang, bila engkau sungguh melihatnya.

Word by Word

• {'yadi': 'if', 'atra': 'here

• in this matter', 'kiñcit': 'anything

• any (even a little)', 'pratyakṣam': 'directly perceived

• evident to experience', 'ahiṁsāyāḥ': 'of non-violence', 'param': 'higher

• beyond', 'matam': 'view

• considered opinion', 'ṛte': 'except

• apart from', 'tu': 'but

• indeed (emphatic particle)', 'āgamaśāstrebhyaḥ': 'from the āgamas and śāstras

• from scriptural authorities', 'brūhi': 'tell

• declare', 'tat': 'that', 'paśyasi': 'you see

Speaker

कपिल उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kapila

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Non-violence is presented as the highest ethical standard; any claim that violence yields a superior good must be demonstrated through direct experience and sound reasoning, not merely asserted on the basis of scriptural citation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kapila is debating a moral and philosophical point: he challenges the other party to produce any observable, verifiable benefit of violence (or any doctrine higher than ahiṁsā) independent of appeals to āgama and śāstra, thereby pressing for experiential proof in ethical argument.