Shloka 41

तृष्णाक्षय-उपदेशः

Instruction on the Cessation of Craving

Devanagari script

स्यूमराश्मिरुवाच स्यूमरश्मिरहं ब्रह्म॒न्‌ जिज्ञासार्थमिहागत: । श्रेयस्काम: प्रत्यवोचमार्जवान्न विवक्षया

Transliteration

Sūmarāśmir uvāca—Sūmarāśmir ahaṁ brahman jijñāsārtham ihāgataḥ | Śreyaskāmaḥ pratyavocam ārjavān na vivakṣayā ||

Translation

苏摩罗施弥说道：“婆罗门啊，我名苏摩罗施弥。我为求知而来。为求真正的善利，我只是坦率直言，并无争辩斗胜之意。”

Word by Word

• {'uvāca': 'said, spoke', 'ahaṁ': 'I', 'brahman': 'O Brahman

• a respectful address to a knower of Brahman / a venerable sage', 'jijñāsā-artham': 'for the sake of inquiry

• in order to know', 'iha': 'here', 'āgataḥ': 'come, arrived', 'śreyas-kāmaḥ': 'desiring the highest good (śreyas)

• seeking true welfare', 'pratyavocam': 'I replied

• I spoke in response', 'ārjavān': 'straightforward, sincere, free from crookedness', 'na': 'not', 'vivakṣayā': 'with the intention of disputation/argument

Speaker

कपिल उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kapila
• Sūmarāśmi

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the ethical posture of learning: one should approach a teacher with sincere inquiry (jijñāsā), seeking true good (śreyas), speaking plainly (ārjava) and without a motive for debate or victory.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sūmarāśmi introduces himself to the sage Kapila and clarifies his intention: he has come to learn and to ask questions for knowledge, not to engage in argumentative disputation.