Shloka 54
युधिछिर उवाच प्राणो वै यज्ञियं साम मनो वै यज्ञियं यजु: । ऋगेका वृणुते यज्ञ तां यज्ञो नातिवर्तते
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | prāṇo vai yajñiyaṃ sāma mano vai yajñiyaṃ yajuḥ | ṛg ekā vṛṇute yajñaṃ tāṃ yajño nātivartate ||
Юдхиштхира сказал: «Само дыхание (прана) — это Саман, пригодный для жертвоприношения; сам ум — это Яджус, пригодный для жертвоприношения. Один-единственный стих Ṛк избирает и поддерживает жертву, и жертва не переступает (границы) этого Ṛк.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True sacrifice is grounded in inner discipline: prāṇa (regulated life-breath) and manas (a steady, intention-pure mind) function like the Sāman and Yajus, while the Ṛk stands for truthful, rightly ordered sacred utterance/insight that sets the limits of action—yajña should not cross the boundary of truth and right order.
In a reflective, instruction-like exchange in the Vana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates a Vedic allegory: he maps components of the Vedas and the ritual onto inner faculties (breath and mind), emphasizing that ritual action (yajña) must be guided and constrained by the authoritative Ṛk—symbolically, by truth and proper sacred order.