Shloka 14
ब्रह्मघोष-प्रवर्तनम्, अनध्याय-नियमः, वायु-मार्ग-वर्णनम्
Restoring Vedic Recitation, the Anadhyaya Rule, and the Taxonomy of Winds
अन्य एव तथा मत्स्यस्तदन्यदुदक॑ स्मृतम् । न चोदकस्य स्पर्शेन मत्स्यो लिप्यति सर्वश:
anya eva tathā matsyas tad anyad udakaṃ smṛtam | na codakasya sparśena matsyo lipyati sarvaśaḥ ||
Yājñavalkya bersabda: “Ikan adalah satu hal, dan air dipahami sebagai hal yang lain. Walau tetap bersentuhan, ikan sama sekali tidak ternoda oleh sentuhan air.”
याज़्वल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Contact with the world need not produce inner defilement: just as a fish remains distinct from water and is not ‘stained’ by it, a disciplined person can live amid sense-objects and social duties while remaining unattached and untainted.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation-oriented conduct, Yājñavalkya uses a simple natural analogy (fish and water) to clarify the distinction between the self and its surrounding conditions, emphasizing separateness and non-adhesion despite proximity.