Shloka 14

Adhyāya 39 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s inquiry on attachment (saṅga) and relational restraint

Devanagari script

प्रणवं चाप्यधीयीत ब्राद्मीर्दुर्वसतीर्वसन्‌ । निर्मन्युरपि निर्वाणो यदि स्यात्‌ समदर्शन:

Transliteration

praṇavaṃ cāpy adhīyīta brāhmīr durvasatīr vasan | nir manyur api nirvāṇo yadi syāt samadarśanaḥ ||

Translation

苏摩曰：居师家而住，守梵行（brahmacarya），忍受艰苦，当与神圣音节“唵”（Oṃ，pranava）同修而诵习吠陀（Veda）。终则舍怒，内心澄寂，受持出离；若为出家行者，当于一切众生与一切境遇保持平等之见（samadarśana）。

Word by Word

• {'praṇavam': 'the syllable Oṃ

• the sacred sound-symbol prefacing Vedic recitation', 'ca api': 'and also', 'adhīyīta': 'should study

• should recite/learn (Veda)', 'brāhmīḥ': 'pertaining to Brahman/Veda

• Vedic (studies/discipline)', 'durvasatīḥ': 'hard dwellings

• difficult living conditions', 'vasan': 'dwelling

• living', 'nir-manyuḥ': 'free from anger

• without wrath', 'api': 'even

• also', 'nirvāṇaḥ': 'extinguished (of passions)

• peaceful, liberated in disposition', 'yadi': 'if', 'syāt': 'should be

• would be', 'samadarśanaḥ': 'one of equal vision

Speaker

सोम उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Soma
• praṇava (Oṃ)
• guru (teacher, implied)
• Veda (implied by adhīyīta and brāhmīḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a life-sequence of discipline: rigorous brahmacarya and Vedic study (with Oṃ), followed by renunciation grounded in the abandonment of anger and the cultivation of equal vision toward all.

What is happening in the narrative?

Soma is instructing on proper conduct for a seeker: first living with the teacher under austere conditions to learn sacred knowledge, and then, at life’s culmination, adopting sannyasa marked by calmness and impartial perception.