Shloka 57
Self-Knowledge and the Allegory of the Five Elements & Senses
Karma, Association, and Rebirth
श्रवणावूचतुः । कार्याकार्यादिकं शब्दं लोकैरुक्तं शुभाशुभम् । शृणुयावः स्वकायस्थौ सत्यासत्ये प्रियाप्रिये
śravaṇāvūcatuḥ | kāryākāryādikaṃ śabdaṃ lokairuktaṃ śubhāśubham | śṛṇuyāvaḥ svakāyasthau satyāsatye priyāpriye
Śravaṇa berkata: “Kami, tetap berada dalam jasad kami sendiri, mendengar kata-kata yang diucapkan manusia tentang apa yang patut dan tidak patut dilakukan—tentang yang membawa berkat dan yang tidak baik—tentang benar dan palsu, serta tentang yang disukai dan yang tidak disukai.”
Śravaṇa (one of a pair, speaking in the dual)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
Sandhi Resolution Notes: श्रवणौ+ऊचतुः→श्रवणावूचतुः; लोकैः+उक्तम्→लोकैरुक्तम्; शुभ+अशुभम्→शुभाशुभम्
FAQs
It highlights moral discernment as expressed in ordinary human speech—people constantly judge actions as right/wrong, auspicious/inauspicious, true/false, and pleasing/unpleasing, and Śravaṇa notes that these judgments are heard while embodied.
Kārya/akārya frames ethics as duty versus prohibition, while śubha/aśubha frames the same field in terms of auspiciousness and harmfulness; together they cover both normative and experiential evaluations.
One should examine speech and social opinion carefully, cultivating discrimination between truth and falsehood and between what is genuinely beneficial versus merely pleasing.