Shloka 29

Adhyāya 262: Śabda-brahman, Para-brahman, and the Ethics of Tyāga

Kapila–Syūmaraśmi Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

प्रापयेयु: प्रजा: स्वर्गे स्वरधर्मांचरणेन वै । इति मे वर्तते बुद्धि: समा सर्वत्र जाजले,लोभी ऋत्विज तो ऐसे लोगोंका ही यज्ञ कराते हैं, जो अशुभ (मोक्षकी इच्छासे रहित) होते हैं, श्रेष्ठ पुरुष तो स्वधर्मका आचरण करते हुए ही प्रजाको स्वर्गमें पहुँचा देते हैं। जाजले! यही सोचकर मेरी बुद्धि भी सर्वत्र समान भाव ही रखती है

Transliteration

prāpayeyuḥ prajāḥ svarge svadharmācaraṇena vai | iti me vartate buddhiḥ samā sarvatra jājale ||

Translation

«Одним лишь исполнением собственной дхармы можно вести людей к небу. Таково убеждение, живущее во мне, о Джаджали; потому моё понимание остаётся ровным и беспристрастным ко всем.»

Word by Word

• {'prāpayeyuḥ': 'they would cause to reach

• would lead (optative, causative sense)', 'prajāḥ': 'creatures

• people', 'svarge': 'in heaven

• in the heavenly world', 'svadharma': 'one’s own prescribed duty

• duty appropriate to one’s station and nature', 'ācaraṇena': 'by practice

• through observance', 'vai': 'indeed

• certainly (emphatic particle)', 'iti': 'thus

• in this manner (quotative marker)', 'me': 'to me

• my', 'vartate': 'exists

• is present/prevails', 'buddhiḥ': 'understanding

• judgment', 'samā': 'equal

• impartial', 'sarvatra': 'everywhere

• toward all', 'jājale': 'O Jājali (vocative)'}

Speaker

चुलाधार उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Cūlādhāra
• Jājali
• svarga

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Cūlādhāra teaches that the highest benefit for people is achieved not through external ritual as such, but through steadfast practice of one’s own dharma; this conviction naturally yields an even, non-partisan attitude toward all.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Cūlādhāra–Jājali conversation of Śānti Parva, Cūlādhāra addresses Jājali and states his settled view: by svadharma alone people attain heavenly good, and therefore his mind remains equal everywhere—indicating ethical steadiness rather than ritualistic or sectarian bias.