Adhyāya 122 — Śruta-vṛtta-yukta Brāhmaṇa and the Ethics of Dāna
Maitreya–Vyāsa Saṃvāda
मनुष्य मूर्ख हो या विद्वान, यदि वह वाणी, बुद्धि और हाथ-पैरसे रहित होकर जीवित है तो उसे कौन-सी वस्तु त्यागेगी, वह तो सभी पुरुषार्थोंसे स्वयं ही परित्यक्त है ।।
Manuṣya mūrkho ho yā vidvān, yadi sa vāṇī-buddhi ca hasta-pāda-rahitaḥ san jīvati, tarhi taṃ kā vastu tyajet? sa tu sarvaiḥ puruṣārthaiḥ svayam eva parityaktaḥ. Jīvana hi kurute pūjāṃ viprāgryaḥ śaśi-sūryayoḥ; bruvann api kathāṃ puṇyāṃ tatra kīṭa tvam eṣyasi, kīṭa!
ວະຍາສະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ມະນຸດຈະໂງ່ຫຼືສະຫຼາດກໍຕາມ ຖ້າຍັງມີຊີວິດແຕ່ຂາດຄຳເວົ້າ, ປັນຍາຮູ້ຄິດ, ແລະການໃຊ້ມືກັບຕີນ ຈະມີຫຍັງມາລະທິ້ງເຂົາອີກ? ເພາະແທ້ໆແລ້ວ ເຂົາຖືກລະທິ້ງໂດຍເປົ້າໝາຍແຫ່ງຊີວິດມະນຸດທັງປວງແລ້ວ. ຍັງມີພຣາຫມັນຜູ້ປະເສີດຊື່ ຈີວະນະ (Jīvana) ຜູ້ບູຊາພຣະຈັນແລະພຣະອາທິດເປັນນິດ ແລະຍັງເລົ່າເລື່ອງອັນບໍລິສຸດໃຫ້ຜູ້ຄົນຟັງ; ທີ່ນັ້ນແຫຼະ ໂອ ໜອນ, ເຈົ້າຈະໄດ້ເກີດເປັນລູກຊາຍຂອງລາວຕາມການເວລາ».
व्यास उवाच
Human flourishing (puruṣārtha) depends on functional capacities like speech, discernment, and agency; without them, worldly aims fall away on their own. The passage also underscores karmic consequence and moral causality through the promise of a future birth shaped by association with a pious Brahmin devoted to worship and sacred narration.
Vyāsa speaks in a didactic tone: first he reflects on how a severely incapacitated life is effectively ‘abandoned’ by the usual human goals; then he introduces a virtuous Brahmin named Jīvana who worships the Sun and Moon and tells holy stories, declaring to a being addressed as ‘kīṭa’ that it will be reborn there as a son.