Shloka 54
युधिछिर उवाच प्राणो वै यज्ञियं साम मनो वै यज्ञियं यजु: । ऋगेका वृणुते यज्ञ तां यज्ञो नातिवर्तते,युधिष्ठिर बोले--प्राण ही यज्ञिय साम है, मन ही यज्ञसम्बन्धी यजु है, एकमात्र ऋचा ही यज्ञका वरण करती है और उसीका यज्ञ अतिक्रमण नहीं करता
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | prāṇo vai yajñiyaṃ sāma mano vai yajñiyaṃ yajuḥ | ṛg ekā vṛṇute yajñaṃ tāṃ yajño nātivartate ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Breath itself is the Sāman fit for sacrifice; the mind itself is the Yajus fit for sacrifice. It is the single Ṛk-verse that chooses (and upholds) the sacrifice, and the sacrifice does not transgress that (Ṛk).” In ethical sense, he points to an inner yajña: disciplined life-breath and a steady mind are the true ritual supports, and sacred truth (ṛc/ṛk as right utterance and insight) sets the boundary that action must not overstep.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True sacrifice is grounded in inner discipline: prāṇa (regulated life-breath) and manas (a steady, intention-pure mind) function like the Sāman and Yajus, while the Ṛk stands for truthful, rightly ordered sacred utterance/insight that sets the limits of action—yajña should not cross the boundary of truth and right order.
In a reflective, instruction-like exchange in the Vana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates a Vedic allegory: he maps components of the Vedas and the ritual onto inner faculties (breath and mind), emphasizing that ritual action (yajña) must be guided and constrained by the authoritative Ṛk—symbolically, by truth and proper sacred order.