Shloka 14
Brahmopadeśa: Ahiṃsā, Jñāna, and the Kṣetrajña–Sattva Analysis
Chapter 49
इदं श्रेय इदं श्रेय इत्येवं व्युत्थितो जन: । यो हि यस्मिन् रतो धर्मे स तं पूजयते सदा,“यही कल्याण-मार्ग है, यही कल्याण-मार्ग है'--इस प्रकारकी बातें सुनकर मनुष्य- समुदाय विचलित हो गया है। जो जिस धर्ममें रत है, वह उसीका सदा आदर करता है
idaṁ śreya idaṁ śreya ityevaṁ vyutthito janaḥ | yo hi yasmin rato dharme sa taṁ pūjayate sadā ||
“‘This is the true good, this is the true good!’—hearing such competing claims, people become unsettled and pulled in different directions. For a person invariably honors that very dharma in which he is devoted; whatever path one is attached to, that alone he continually reveres.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
People often proclaim their own path as the sole ‘śreyas’ (true good). Such competing assertions can unsettle society, because individuals naturally honor and defend the dharma to which they are personally devoted. The verse highlights the role of attachment and sectarian preference in ethical/religious disputes.
Vāyudeva comments on how the populace becomes disturbed by hearing many voices each insisting, ‘This alone is the path of welfare.’ He explains the psychological reason: each person praises and venerates the dharma in which he is engaged, leading to disagreement and confusion.