Shloka 20
Abhaya-Itihāsa: Karma, Indriyas, and the Non-sensory Brahman
Brāhmaṇī–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda
घ्रेयं दृश्यं च पेयं च स्पृश्यं श्रव्यं तथैव च । मन्तव्यमथ बोद्धव्यं ता: सप्त समिधो मम
ghreyaṃ dṛśyaṃ ca peyaṃ ca spṛśyaṃ śravyaṃ tathaiva ca | mantavyam atha boddhavyaṃ tāḥ sapta samidho mama ||
सूंघण्याजोगा गंध, पाहण्याजोगे रूप, पिण्याजोगा रस, स्पर्शण्याजोगी वस्तू, ऐकण्याजोगा शब्द—आणि मनाने विचारण्याजोगे व बुद्धीने जाणण्याजोगे विषय—ही सात माझ्या समिधा आहेत.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that sensory objects (smell, sight, taste, touch, sound) and inner objects (thought for the mind, understanding for the intellect) function like ‘fuel’ for the inner fire; therefore, ethical life requires mindful regulation of what one consumes through the senses and how one processes it through reflection and discernment.
Vāyu-deva is speaking in a didactic passage, using sacrificial imagery to explain how human faculties relate to their objects: the seven domains of experience are presented as offerings that sustain the inner sacred fire (often understood as Vaiśvānara), linking everyday perception to a spiritual-ethical framework.