Shloka 7
Cāturhotra as Inner Sacrifice (Yoga-Yajña) and Nārāyaṇa Recitation
स्वगुणं भक्षयन्त्येते गुणवन्त: शुभाशुभम् । अहं च निर्गुणो5नन्तः सप्तैते मोक्षहेतव:
svaguṇaṁ bhakṣayanty ete guṇavantaḥ śubhāśubham | ahaṁ ca nirguṇo 'nantaḥ saptaite mokṣa-hetavaḥ ||
婆罗门说道：“这些机能由诸‘德’（guṇa）所成，故而‘享用’自身之德——以诸感官境界而受吉与不吉。然我无德而无量，与彼等无涉。若能如实了知，则此七者——自命息（prāṇa）与诸根起——便成为趋向解脱之因。”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes the guṇa-bound faculties (prāṇa and senses), which undergo and ‘consume’ auspicious and inauspicious experiences, from the Self that is nirguṇa and infinite. Liberation arises when one knows the Self as unattached and not identical with these guṇa-driven processes; then the very same faculties become instruments supporting release rather than bondage.
A Brahmin speaker is instructing about inner constitution: the senses and vital functions naturally engage with their objects and generate mixed moral results, but the true ‘I’ is beyond these qualities. He frames this insight as a practical turning point—understanding the Self’s separateness converts the ‘seven’ (prāṇa and related faculties) into means toward mokṣa.