Ashvamedhika Parva Adhyaya 25 Shloka 15 - Mahabharata | Vietnamese | Vedapath

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Shloka 15

Cāturhotra as Inner Sacrifice (Yoga-Yajña) and Nārāyaṇa Recitation

Devanagari script

कतनिमन्ता ब्रह्मात्मा होताध्वर्यु: कृतस्तुति: । ऋतं प्रशास्ता तच्छस्त्रमपवर्गो ३स्य दक्षिणा

Transliteration

kartā nimantā brahmātmā hotādhvaryuḥ kṛtastutiḥ | ṛtaṁ praśāstā tacchastram apavargo 'sya dakṣiṇā ||

Translation

Bà-la-môn nói: “Kẻ hành động và kẻ thỉnh mời—khi an lập trong bản tính Phạm (Brahman)—thì trở thành Hotṛ và Adhvaryu; còn người dâng lời tán tụng thì trở thành Udgātṛ. Chân lý (ṛta) là bậc chủ trì dẫn đạo, và vũ khí của nó là lời chỉ giáo đúng đắn. Lễ vật thù lao (dakṣiṇā) của cuộc tế lễ nội tâm này chính là apavarga—sự giải thoát tối hậu (mokṣa).”

Word by Word

कतनिमन्ताthe doer/agent who invites/initiates (as a ritual functionary)

ब्रह्मात्माone whose self is Brahman / Brahman-souled

होताHotṛ priest (invoker)

अध्वर्युःAdhvaryu priest (executor of the rite)

कृतस्तुतिःone whose praise has been performed / duly praised

ऋतम्truth; cosmic order

प्रशास्ताthe instructor/overseer (priestly functionary)

तत्that

शस्त्रम्weapon; (here) instrument/means

अपवर्गःliberation (mokṣa)

अस्यof this; its

दक्षिणाsacrificial fee; honorarium

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

ब

ब्राह्मण (speaker)

Hotṛ

Adhvaryu

Udgātṛ

Brahman (as brahmātmā)

Ṛ

ṛta (truth/order)

apavarga (mokṣa)

dakṣiṇā (sacrificial fee)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.