Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 15
Cāturhotra as Inner Sacrifice (Yoga-Yajña) and Nārāyaṇa Recitation
कतनिमन्ता ब्रह्मात्मा होताध्वर्यु: कृतस्तुति: । ऋतं प्रशास्ता तच्छस्त्रमपवर्गो ३स्य दक्षिणा
kartā nimantā brahmātmā hotādhvaryuḥ kṛtastutiḥ | ṛtaṁ praśāstā tacchastram apavargo 'sya dakṣiṇā ||
Wika ng Brahmana: “Ang gumagawa at ang nag-aanyaya—kapag naitatag sa likas na kalagayan ng Brahman—ay nagiging Hotṛ at Adhvaryu; at ang nag-aalay ng papuri ay nagiging Udgātṛ. Ang Katotohanan (ṛta) ang namumunong gabay, at ang sandata nito ay wastong pagtuturo. Ang dakṣiṇā, ang handog na kabayaran ng panloob na yajña na ito, ay apavarga—ang ganap na paglaya (mokṣa).”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse internalizes the Vedic sacrifice: the roles of priests are mapped onto inner faculties, and the true ‘instrument’ of the rite is truth (ṛta). The highest ‘fee’ or fruit of this inner yajña is apavarga—liberation—implying that ethical truthfulness and right guidance culminate in mokṣa rather than worldly reward.
A Brāhmaṇa speaker explains a symbolic interpretation of sacrifice within the Ashvamedhika context, shifting attention from external ritual performance to an inward discipline where mental functions and moral truth become the real officiants and means, and liberation is presented as the ultimate outcome.