Shloka 3
Abhaya-Itihāsa: Karma, Indriyas, and the Non-sensory Brahman
Brāhmaṇī–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda
क॑ नु लोकं गमिष्यामि त्वामहं पतिमाश्रिता । न्यस्तकर्माणमासीनं कीनाशमविचक्षणम्
ka nu lokaṁ gamiṣyāmi tvām ahaṁ patim āśritā | nyastakarmāṇam āsīnaṁ kīnāśam avicakṣaṇam ||
“ਮੈਂ, ਜਿਸ ਨੇ ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਪਤੀ ਵਜੋਂ ਆਸਰਾ ਬਣਾਇਆ ਹੈ, ਕਿਹੜੇ ਲੋਕ ਨੂੰ ਜਾਵਾਂਗੀ? ਤੁਸੀਂ ਤਾਂ ਕਰਮ ਛੱਡ ਕੇ ਬੈਠੇ ਹੋ—ਬਿਨਾਂ ਵਿਵੇਕ ਦੇ ਕਿਸਾਨ ਵਾਂਗ।”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between renunciation and responsibility: abandoning action without discernment can harm dependents who rely on one’s dharma (here, the spouse’s refuge in the husband and the belief that her posthumous destiny follows his).
Vāyu addresses a man who has withdrawn from duties and sits inactive; the speaker questions what destiny remains for one who depends on him as husband, criticizing his lack of discernment and comparing his inactivity to a dull peasant.