Shloka 14

Cāturhotra as Inner Sacrifice (Yoga-Yajña) and Nārāyaṇa Recitation

Devanagari script

गुणवत्पावको महां दीव्यते5न्त:शरीरग: । जो मनसे अवगत होता है

Transliteration

brāhmaṇa uvāca | guṇavat pāvako mahān dīvyate 'ntaḥśarīragaḥ | yogayajñaḥ pravṛtto me jñānavallīprado 'dbhutaḥ | prāṇastotraḥ apānaśastraḥ sarvatyāgasudakṣiṇaḥ |

Translation

ನನ್ನ ದೇಹದ ಅಂತರಾಳದಲ್ಲಿ ಗುಣವಂತನಾದ ಮಹಾ ಪಾವಕನು ಪ್ರಕಾಶಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ನಾನು ಯೋಗರೂಪ ಯಜ್ಞವನ್ನು ಆರಂಭಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ; ಅದು ಜ್ಞಾನವಲ್ಲಿಯನ್ನು ಉದ್ಭವಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾಣವೇ ಸ್ತೋತ್ರ, ಅಪಾನವೇ ಶಸ್ತ್ರ, ಮತ್ತು ಸರ್ವತ್ಯಾಗವೇ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ದಕ್ಷಿಣೆ.

Word by Word

• गुणवत्: endowed with qualities
• गुणवत्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गुणवत्
• Form: पुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• पावकः: fire
• पावकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पावक
• Form: पुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• महान्: great
• महान्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: पुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• दीव्यते: shines / is radiant
• Type: Verb
• Root: √दीव्
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथम, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद

• अन्तः: within
• अन्तः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्तः

• शरीरगः: dwelling in the body
• शरीरगः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शरीरग
• Form: पुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (Brahmin speaker)
• पावक/अग्नि (Fire as inner sacrificial fire)
• परमात्मा (Supreme Self)
• प्राण (in-breath)
• अपान (out-breath)
• मनस् (mind)
• वाणी (speech)
• कर्ण (ear)
• चक्षुस् (eye)
• त्वक् (skin)
• नासिका/घ्राण (nose/smell faculty)
• योगयज्ञ (yoga-sacrifice)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True sacrifice can be internalized: by restraining the senses and mind, one offers sense-objects back into disciplined awareness, making the self the altar. The ‘fire’ is the Supreme Self shining within, and the highest sacrificial gift is total renunciation.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Brahmin speaker describes his spiritual practice as a ‘yoga-sacrifice.’ He reinterprets Vedic ritual elements symbolically—prāṇa as the chant, apāna as the implement, and renunciation as the dakṣiṇā—asserting that through this inner rite the Supreme Self becomes manifest within him.