Shloka 11
Gaṅgā-Tīrtha Darśana and the Prelude to the Yavakrīta–Indra Exemplum (लोमश-युधिष्ठिर संवादः)
अष्टावक्र उवाच चतुष्टयं ब्राह्मणानां निकेत॑ं चत्वारो वर्णा यज्ञमिमं वहन्ति । दिशश्वतस्रो वर्णचतुष्टयं च चतुष्पदा गौरपि शश्रचदुक्ता,अष्टावक्र बोले--ब्राह्मणोंके लिये आश्रम चार हैं। वर्ण: भी चार ही हैं जो इस यज्ञका भार वहन करते हैं। मुख्य दिशाएँः भी चार ही हैं। वर्ण“ भी चार ही हैं तथा गो अर्थात् वाणी भी सदा चार ही चरणोंसे* युक्त बतायी गयी है
Aṣṭāvakra uvāca—catuṣṭayaṃ brāhmaṇānāṃ niketaṃ catvāro varṇā yajñam imaṃ vahanti | diśaś catasro varṇa-catuṣṭayaṃ ca catuṣpadā gaur api śaśvac catur-uktā ||
Aṣṭāvakra said: “For Brahmins there are four settled stages of life (āśramas). There are also four social orders (varṇas) that bear the burden of this sacrificial order. The principal directions are four as well. Likewise, the ‘fourfold’ is spoken of again: even Speech—called ‘cow’—is eternally described as having four ‘feet’ (levels).”
अष्टावक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a recurring ‘fourfold’ structure in dharmic and Vedic thought—four āśramas, four varṇas sustaining the sacrificial order, four directions, and the doctrine of four levels/quarters of speech—suggesting that social, ritual, cosmic, and linguistic orders mirror one another.
Aṣṭāvakra is instructing his listener by pointing to patterned correspondences in the world: the organization of Brahmin life-stages, the four varṇas’ role in upholding yajña, the four quarters, and the traditional teaching that speech (vāk), metaphorically called a ‘cow,’ has four ‘feet’ or levels.