Shloka 3
Vāc–Manas Saṃvāda: Prāṇa-Apāna and the Primacy Debate (वाक्–मनस् संवादः)
शब्दस्पर्शों रूपरसौ गन्धो वाक्य क्रिया गति: । रेतोमूत्रपुरीषाणां त्यागो दश हवींषि च,शब्द, स्पर्श, रूप, रस, गन्ध, वाणी, क्रिया, गति, वीर्य, मूत्रका त्याग और मल-त्याग-- ये दस विषय ही दस हविष्य हैं
śabda-sparśau rūpa-rasau gandho vākya-kriyā gatiḥ | reto-mūtra-purīṣāṇāṃ tyāgo daśa havīṃṣi ca ||
Disse o brâmane: “O som e o tato; a forma e o sabor; e o odor; a fala, a ação e o movimento; e a expulsão de sêmen, urina e fezes — estes dez devem ser tidos como as dez oblações. Em outras palavras, a disciplina do domínio dos sentidos e a contenção do corpo são, elas mesmas, as oferendas com que se realiza um sacrifício interior, convertendo impulsos comuns em caminho de autodomínio ético.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reframes sacrifice as an inner discipline: mastering the senses (sound, touch, form, taste, smell), regulating speech, action, and movement, and maintaining bodily restraint regarding sexual and excretory impulses—these become the ‘oblations’ offered into the inner fire of self-control.
A Brahmin speaker instructs by using sacrificial language: instead of external offerings, he enumerates ten human functions/objects of experience and bodily discharges, teaching that ethical restraint and regulation of these is the true performance of a subtle, internal yajña.