Shloka 23
अध्वर्यु–यति संवादः
Adhvaryu–Yati Dialogue on Svabhāva, Ahiṃsā, and Mokṣa
प्राणादाने निवृत्तोडसि हिंसायां वर्तते भवान् | नास्ति चेष्टा विना हिंसां कि वा त्वं मन्यसे द्विज,प्राणो जिह्ठा मन: सत्त्वं सद्भावो रजसा सह । भावैरेतैविंमुक्तस्य निर्दधन्द्स्य निराशिष: प्राण, जिह्ला, मन और रजोगुणसहित सत्त्वगगुण--ये रज अर्थात् मायासहित सद्धाव हैं। इन भावोंसे मुक्त निर्दन्द्ध, निष्काम, समस्त प्राणियोंके प्रति समभाव रखनेवाले, ममतारहित, जितात्मा तथा सब ओरसे बन्धनशून्य पुरुषको कभी और कहीं भी भय नहीं होता
prāṇādāne nivṛtto 'si hiṁsāyāṁ vartate bhavān | nāsti ceṣṭā vinā hiṁsāṁ kiṁ vā tvaṁ manyase dvija || prāṇo jihvā manaḥ sattvaṁ sadbhāvo rajasā saha | bhāvair etair vimuktasya nirdvandvasya nirāśiṣaḥ ||
The Brahmin said: “You have withdrawn from taking life, yet you still move within the sphere of violence. For no action is possible without some harm—what do you think of this, O twice-born? Life-breath, the tongue, and the mind—together with the qualities of sattva and rajas—constitute the inner dispositions that drive embodied existence. But for one who is freed from these impulses, who is beyond the pairs of opposites and without craving for results, fear does not arise anywhere at any time.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse argues that embodied action inevitably entails some harm, so ethical life cannot be reduced to mere external non-killing; true freedom is inner—release from compulsive impulses (mind, speech/taste, vital drives and guṇas), becoming desireless and beyond dualities, which yields fearlessness.
A Brahmin addresses a ‘dvija’ in a reflective dialogue on dharma, challenging a simplistic claim of non-violence by pointing out that ordinary activity still participates in harm, and then describing the liberated person who transcends such binding dispositions.