Shloka 2

Adhyāya 34: Kṣetrajña-Lakṣaṇa and the Araṇi Metaphor

Mind–Intellect Allegory

Devanagari script

उपायं त॑ मम ब्रूहि येनैषा लभ्यते मतिः । तन्मन्ये कारण त्वत्तो यत एषा प्रवर्तते,अतः आप कोई ऐसा उपाय बताइये, जिससे मुझे भी यह बुद्धि प्राप्त हो। मेरा विश्वास है कि वह उपाय आपहीसे ज्ञात हो सकता है

Transliteration

upāyaṃ ta mama brūhi yenaiṣā labhyate matiḥ | tan manye kāraṇaṃ tvatto yata eṣā pravartate |

Translation

അതുകൊണ്ട് ഈ ബുദ്ധി എനിക്കും ലഭിക്കുവാൻ ഏതു ഉപായമാണുള്ളത് എന്ന് പറഞ്ഞുതരുക. ഈ അന്തർദൃഷ്ടി ഏതു കാരണത്തിൽ നിന്നാണ് ഉദ്ഭവിക്കുന്നത് എന്ന കാര്യം നിങ്ങള്ക്ക് തന്നെയറിയാം എന്ന് ഞാൻ വിശ്വസിക്കുന്നു; അതിനാൽ ദയവായി ആ മാർഗം ഉപദേശിക്കൂ.

Word by Word

• {'upāyam': 'means, method, practical remedy', 'mama': 'to me, my', 'brūhi': 'tell (imperative), explain', 'yena': 'by which, through which', 'eṣā': 'this (feminine

• here referring to the insight/understanding)', 'labhyate': 'is obtained, is attained', 'matiḥ': 'understanding, intelligence, discernment', 'tat': 'that', 'manye': 'I think, I consider', 'kāraṇam': 'cause, reason', 'tvattaḥ': 'from you, by you', 'yataḥ': 'from which, whence', 'pravartate': 'arises, proceeds, becomes active'}

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (a Brahmin speaker)
• tvam (the addressed interlocutor, unnamed here)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True understanding (mati) is not merely accidental; it has a discernible cause and can be approached through an upāya (method). The verse models humility and the ethical stance of seeking guidance from one believed to possess the source of insight.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Brahmin addresses another person (implicitly a teacher or wise interlocutor) and requests instruction: he asks for the practical means to gain the same kind of insight, asserting that the other knows the cause from which that insight arises.