Shloka 5
सप्तहोतृ-विधानम् एवं इन्द्रिय–मनःसंवादः
The Seven Hotṛs and the Debate of Senses and Mind
ब्राह्मण उवाच गुणाज्ञानमविज्ञानं गुणज्ञानमभिज्ञता | परस्परं गुणानेते नाभिजानन्ति कह्िचित्
brāhmaṇa uvāca | guṇājñānam avijñānaṃ guṇajñānam abhijñatā | parasparaṃ guṇān ete nābhijānanti kaścit ||
Wika ng Brāhmaṇa: “Ang hindi pagkakilala sa mga katangian ay tunay na kamangmangan; ang pagkakilala sa mga katangian ay siyang wastong pag-unawa. Ngunit ang mga ito’y hindi tunay na nakakikilala sa mga katangian ng isa’t isa sa ugnayang magkaharap—walang isa man ang ganap na nakasasaklaw sa iba.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
True ignorance is the failure to discern qualities (guṇas) correctly; true understanding is the clear recognition of qualities. The verse points to the limits of the senses: they operate in their own domains and cannot, by themselves, fully grasp one another’s nature—hence discernment must go beyond mere sensory functioning.
A Brāhmaṇa is instructing (addressing a प्रिय/‘dear one’ in the surrounding prose) on the meaning of ‘seeing’ as ‘knowing.’ He explains that recognizing a person/thing depends on recognizing its qualities, and he uses the mutual non-recognition among the sense-faculties as an illustration of why ordinary perception is limited.