Shloka 5
Vāc–Manas Saṃvāda: Prāṇa-Apāna and the Primacy Debate (वाक्–मनस् संवादः)
दशेन्द्रियाणि होतृणि हवींषि दश भाविनि । विषया नाम समिधो हूयन्ते तु दशाग्निषु,भाविनि! दस इन्द्रियरूपी होता दस देवतारूपी अग्निमें दस विषयरूपी हविष्य एवं समिधाओंका हवन करते हैं (इस प्रकार मेरे अन्तरमें निरन्तर यज्ञ हो रहा है; फिर मैं अकर्मण्य कैसे हूँ?)
daśendriyāṇi hotṝṇi havīṁṣi daśa bhāvini | viṣayā nāma samidho hūyante tu daśāgniṣu, bhāvini ||
Brahmana itu berkata: “Wahai wanita mulia, sepuluh indera ialah para hotṛ (pendeta pelaksana) yang sepuluh; persembahan juga sepuluh macam. Objek-objek indera, bagaikan kayu api samidh, dicurahkan sebagai havis ke dalam sepuluh api. Maka korban batin ini berlangsung tanpa henti di dalam diriku—bagaimana mungkin aku dituduh tidak berbuat atau mengelak daripada tindakan?”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
True ‘action’ is not only external ritual or worldly labor; the disciplined governance of the senses is itself a continuous inner yajña. By framing sense-faculties as priests and sense-objects as offerings, the verse teaches ethical vigilance: one is not ‘inactive’ if one is steadily performing inner self-regulation and offering impulses into the fire of restraint.
A Brāhmaṇa addresses a woman (‘bhāvini’) and defends himself against the charge of being akarmaṇya (inactive). He explains, through a sacrificial metaphor, that within him an unceasing internal rite is taking place: the ten senses function like priests, and the ten sense-objects are offered as oblations into ten fires—thereby asserting his life of disciplined practice.