Shloka 13
अन्तर्वन-विद्यारण्योपमा
The Allegory of the Inner Forest of Knowledge
एको वह्ि: सुमना ब्राह्मणोउत्र पज्चेन्द्रियाणि समिथधश्चात्र सन्ति । तेभ्यो मोक्षा: सप्त फलन्ति दीक्षा गुणा: फलान्यतिथय: फलाशा:
eko vahniḥ sumanā brāhmaṇo ’tra pañcendriyāṇi samidhaś cātra santi | tebhyo mokṣāḥ sapta phalanti dīkṣā guṇāḥ phalāny atithayaḥ phalāśāḥ ||
婆罗门说道：“此林之中唯有一火；怀清净意的有情之我，即是婆罗门。五根诸识，乃投于此火的薪柴。由此内在之祭，生起七种解脱。此祭之受戒（灌顶）从不虚设：德行本身即为其果，而七位‘宾客’乃是享受这些果报者。”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents an allegory of inner sacrifice: the purified self is the ‘Brāhmaṇa,’ the five senses are the fuel offered into the single inner fire, and the true ‘fruit’ of the rite is virtue itself, culminating in multiple modes of liberation. It shifts attention from external ritual results to ethical discipline and self-mastery as the real sacrificial outcome.
A Brāhmaṇa speaker explains a symbolic yajña set in a forest setting, redefining ritual elements—fire, fuel-sticks, consecration, fruits, and guests—as inner spiritual realities. The discourse instructs listeners to interpret sacrifice as sense-restraint and moral cultivation leading toward liberation.