Shloka 23
अध्वर्यु–यति संवादः
Adhvaryu–Yati Dialogue on Svabhāva, Ahiṃsā, and Mokṣa
प्राणादाने निवृत्तोडसि हिंसायां वर्तते भवान् | नास्ति चेष्टा विना हिंसां कि वा त्वं मन्यसे द्विज
prāṇādāne nivṛtto 'si hiṁsāyāṁ vartate bhavān | nāsti ceṣṭā vinā hiṁsāṁ kiṁ vā tvaṁ manyase dvija || prāṇo jihvā manaḥ sattvaṁ sadbhāvo rajasā saha | bhāvair etair vimuktasya nirdvandvasya nirāśiṣaḥ ||
婆罗门说道：“你虽已退离夺命之事，却仍在暴害的境域中行走。因为没有任何行动能不带伤害——你对此作何想，噢，二次生者？生命之息（prāṇa）、舌与心——并与萨埵与罗阇之德相伴——构成驱使有身之生的内在倾向。然而，对那已从这些冲动中解脱、超越对待二边、且不贪求果报之人，恐惧于任何处、任何时都不会生起。”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse argues that embodied action inevitably entails some harm, so ethical life cannot be reduced to mere external non-killing; true freedom is inner—release from compulsive impulses (mind, speech/taste, vital drives and guṇas), becoming desireless and beyond dualities, which yields fearlessness.
A Brahmin addresses a ‘dvija’ in a reflective dialogue on dharma, challenging a simplistic claim of non-violence by pointing out that ordinary activity still participates in harm, and then describing the liberated person who transcends such binding dispositions.