इदम् एवं न चाप्य् एवम् एवम् एतन् न चान्यथा ॥
इत्य् ऊचुर् बहवस् तत्र वितण्डानाः परस्परम् ॥
कृशान् अर्थांस् तथा के चिद् अकृशांस् तत्र कुर्वते ॥
अकृशांश् च कृशांश् चक्रुर् हेतुभिः शास्त्रनिश्चितैः ॥
तत्र मेधाविनः के चिद् अर्थम् अन्यैः प्रपूरितम् ॥
विचिक्षिपुर् यथा श्येना नभोगतम् इवामिषम् ॥
idam evaṃ na cāpy evam evam etan na cānyathā ||
ity ūcur bahavas tatra vitaṇḍānāḥ parasparam ||
kṛśān arthāṃs tathā ke cid akṛśāṃs tatra kurvate ||
akṛśāṃś ca kṛśāṃś cakrur hetubhiḥ śāstraniścitaiḥ ||
tatra medhāvinaḥ ke cid artham anyaiḥ prapūritam ||
vicikṣipur yathā śyenā nabhogatam ivāmiṣam ||
"This is so -- and yet not so; it is exactly so, and not otherwise" -- thus said many there, disputing with one another. Some made weak arguments strong, and strong ones weak, with reasonings settled by the shastra. Others, the learned, snatched away a meaning built up by others, as hawks snatch prey moving in the sky.
dd24f57b675a · publicado 16 jul 2026, 15:40:27 UTC
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The learned dispute is shown without embellishment: arguments turn now strong, now weak, and the sages "snatch" one another's constructions like hawks after prey. It is significant that even in a pious assembly the debate is sharp and contentious. The verse teaches a double lesson: on one hand, the testing of thought in dispute hones the truth; on the other, the very skill of proving "both this way and that" harbors temptation, for cleverness can defend falsehood as readily as truth. Hence dialectic is a useful but dangerous servant; a mind not grounded in dharma turns it into a game rather than a search for truth.