Shloka 19
अध्वर्यु–यति संवादः
Adhvaryu–Yati Dialogue on Svabhāva, Ahiṃsā, and Mokṣa
अध्वर्युर्वाच भूमेर्गन्धगुणान् भुड्क्षे पिबस्पापोमयान् रसान् । ज्योतिषां पश्यसे रूप॑ स्पृशस्यनिलजान् गुणान्
adhvaryur uvāca: bhūmer gandha-guṇān bhuṅkṣe pibaś cāpomayān rasān | jyotiṣāṁ paśyase rūpaṁ spṛśasy anilajān guṇān ||
Wika ng Adhvaryu: “O ermitanyo! Tinatamasa mo ang samyo ng lupa; iniinom mo ang mga lasa ng tubig; minamasdan mo ang anyo, ang katangian ng apoy at liwanag; at hinahaplos mo ang haplos na isinilang ng hangin. Bagaman sinasabi mong ang buhay ay nasa lahat ng nilalang, patuloy mong ginagamit ang mga pandama sa kani-kanilang bagay—paano mo ipagkakasundo ang pahayag mo sa mismong pamumuhay mo?”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the linkage between the senses and the elemental qualities (smell–earth, taste–water, form–fire/light, touch–wind). It challenges a purely verbal claim about universal life/spirit by pointing to embodied experience: one still engages sense-objects, so one must explain how such engagement fits with one’s philosophical position and ethical restraint.
In a didactic exchange, the Adhvaryu priest addresses the interlocutor (in this section framed as a Brahmin speaker elsewhere) and argues by enumeration of sensory enjoyments. He uses the standard mapping of elements to qualities to press a question about consistency between doctrine and conduct.