Dāna-Śreṣṭhatā: Abhaya, Anugraha, and the Ethics of Honoring the Worthy (दानश्रेष्ठता: अभय-अनुग्रह-विप्रपूजा)
एवमेतद् यथा<<वत्थ व्वं ब्राद्मण्यं तात दुर्लभम् | ब्राह्मणे सति चर्षित्वमृषित्वे च तपस्विता
evam etad yathāttha tvaṁ brāhmaṇyaṁ tāta durlabham | brāhmaṇe sati ca ṛṣitvam ṛṣitve ca tapasvitā ||
赤瓦那说道:“正如你所言,孩子:真正的婆罗门之道难以获得。即便已为婆罗门,成为圣仙(ṛṣi)更为罕有;即便已为圣仙,真正具足苦行与自律的行者(tapasvin)则更其稀少。”
च्यवन उवाच
The verse ranks spiritual qualifications: brahminhood is rare, but true sagehood is rarer, and authentic austerity and self-mastery are rarer still—implying that ethical-spiritual excellence is measured by realized discipline, not merely by status.
Cyavana responds approvingly to the listener’s earlier remark about the link between tapas (austerity) and brāhmaṇatva (brahminhood), affirming that these attainments are progressively difficult and therefore especially worthy of reverence.