Shloka 38
Adhyāya 262: Śabda-brahman, Para-brahman, and the Ethics of Tyāga
Kapila–Syūmaraśmi Saṃvāda
यस्मिन्नेवात्मतीर्थे न पशव:ः प्राप्तुयुर्मखम् । अथ सम कर्मणा केन वाणिज प्राप्तुयात् सुखम्
yasminnevātmatīrthe na paśavaḥ prāptuyur makham | atha samakarmaṇā kena vāṇija prāptuyāt sukham ||
இந்த ஆத்மதீர்த்தத்திலேயே ‘பசுக்கள்’ (அதாவது அறியாமையினர்) யாகத்தை அடைய முடியாவிட்டால், அப்படியென்றால் எந்த சாதாரண வெளிப்புறச் செயலால் ஒரு வணிகன் உண்மையான இன்பத்தை அடைவான்?
चुलाधार उवाच
Educational Q&A
True happiness is not secured by outward ritual action—especially acts involving harm—but by the ‘ātma-tīrtha’, the inner sacred discipline of self-purification and right understanding. If even animals cannot access the inner sanctity that makes a sacrifice meaningful, then mere external performance cannot by itself yield genuine sukha.
Cūlādhāra addresses a merchant and challenges a ritual-centered view of merit. He contrasts external sacrificial rites (makha), associated with animals, with the inward ‘pilgrimage of the Self’ (ātma-tīrtha), implying that ethical inner transformation is the real path to well-being.