Shloka 4

अध्वर्यु–यति संवादः

Adhvaryu–Yati Dialogue on Svabhāva, Ahiṃsā, and Mokṣa

Devanagari script

अकामयानस्य च सर्वकामा- नविद्विषाणस्य च सर्वदोषान्‌ | न मे स्वभावेषु भवन्ति लेपा- स्तोयस्य बिन्दोरिव पुष्करेषु

Transliteration

akāmāyanasya ca sarvakāmān avidviṣāṇasya ca sarvadoṣān | na me svabhāveṣu bhavanti lepās toyasya bindor iva puṣkareṣu ||

Translation

Bà-la-môn nói: “Ta không khao khát bất cứ đối tượng nào trong mọi điều đáng ham muốn, và ta cũng không ôm lòng thù ghét ngay cả đối với mọi lỗi lầm. Như giọt nước không bám trên lá sen, tham luyến và ghét bỏ cũng không dính vào bản tính của ta.”

Word by Word

• {'akāmāyanasya': 'of one who does not desire

• free from craving', 'sarva-kāmān': 'all desires

• all objects of enjoyment', 'avidviṣāṇasya': 'of one who does not hate

• free from aversion', 'sarva-doṣān': 'all faults/defects

• all vices', 'na me': 'not to me

• in me not', 'svabhāveṣu': 'in (my) dispositions/nature

• in innate tendencies', 'bhavanti': 'arise

• come to be', 'lepāḥ': 'stains

• adhesion (figuratively, moral/mental taint)', 'toyasya': 'of water', 'bindoḥ': 'of a drop', 'iva': 'like

• as', 'puṣkareṣu': 'on lotus leaves (lit. in/among lotuses)'}

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (Brahmin speaker)
• पुष्कर (lotus/lotus leaf)
• तोय-बिन्दु (drop of water)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Freedom from both craving (kāma) and hatred (dveṣa) is presented as the mark of inner purity: even when desires and faults exist in the world, they do not ‘stick’ to the disciplined person, like water on a lotus leaf.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Brahmin speaker is articulating his ethical-spiritual stance to others in the Ashvamedhika Parva, using a vivid simile (water on a lotus leaf) to describe his non-attachment and non-aversion.