Shloka 14
अध्वर्यु–यति संवादः
Adhvaryu–Yati Dialogue on Svabhāva, Ahiṃsā, and Mokṣa
प्राणा अप्यस्य छागस्य प्रापितास्ते स्वयोनिषु । शरीरं केवल शिष्ट निश्चेष्टमिति मे मति:,तुमने इस छागकी इन्द्रियोंको उनके कारणोंमें विलीन कर दिया है। मेरे विचारसे अब तो केवल इसका निश्वेष्ट शरीर ही अवशिष्ट रह गया है
prāṇā apy asya chāgasya prāpitās te svayoniṣu | śarīraṃ kevalaśiṣṭaṃ niśceṣṭam iti me matiḥ ||
The brāhmaṇa said: “Even the life-breaths of this goat have been led back into their own sources. In my judgment, nothing remains now except its body—left behind, motionless.” The statement underscores the ethical gravity of reducing a living being to mere inert matter by forcibly dissolving its vital functions into their causal bases.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that life is not merely the physical body: when the prāṇas are withdrawn or resolved back into their sources, what remains is an inert body. Ethically, it stresses the seriousness of actions that extinguish vitality—treating a living being as reducible to matter is a grave moral concern.
A brāhmaṇa observes that the goat’s vital functions have been made to merge back into their respective origins, implying the goat has effectively been deprived of life. He concludes that only the motionless body remains, marking a moment of judgment and moral reflection within the episode.