Shloka 20
अध्वर्यु–यति संवादः
Adhvaryu–Yati Dialogue on Svabhāva, Ahiṃsā, and Mokṣa
शृणोष्याकाशजान् शब्दान् मनसा मन्यसे मतिम् । सर्वाण्येतानि भूतानि प्राणा इति च मन्यसे
śṛṇoṣy ākāśajān śabdān manasā manyase matim | sarvāṇy etāni bhūtāni prāṇā iti ca manyase ||
婆罗门说道：“你听见从虚空中生起的声音；又以心意思量，形成判断。你也认为这一切众生，究其实皆是‘普拉那’（prāṇa，生命之息）。”在此语境中，这话是在逼问一个伦理要点：即便承认生命遍在于一切有情，人仍不断动用诸根与内在思惟之力；因此必须省察，感官之享受与心识之造作，究竟如何与自己所宣称的敬生之心以及自制之戒相契合。
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a tension between metaphysical belief and lived conduct: one may affirm that all beings are pervaded by prāṇa (life), yet one still operates through sensory experience (hearing) and inner cognition (mental judgment). The implied teaching is to scrutinize attachment to sense-objects and mental constructions, and to align one’s claims about reverence for life with disciplined, ethical restraint.
A Brahmin speaker addresses an interlocutor in a didactic exchange, pointing out what the other person experiences and believes: hearing sounds arising from ākāśa, forming judgments with the mind, and maintaining the view that all beings are prāṇa. The line functions as part of a broader philosophical argument about the elements, the senses, and the proper understanding of life and conduct.