Upaniṣads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 3,9.18
॥
Devanāgarī
शाकल्य इति ह उवाच याज्ञवल्क्यः त्वाम् स्विद् इमे ब्राह्मणाः अङ्गारावक्षयणम् अक्रताः इति
Transliteración (IAST)
śākalya iti ha uvāca yājñavalkyaḥ tvām svid ime brāhmaṇāḥ aṅgārāvakṣayaṇam akratāḥ iti
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
शाकल्यśākalyaO Śākalya; Śākalya
इतिitithus; how
हhasurely; as is known
उवाचuvācahe said; he uttered
याज्ञवल्क्यःyājñavalkyaḥYājñavalkya; the sage Yājñavalkya
त्वाम्tvāmyou; as regards you
स्विद्svidsurely; is it that
इमेimethese; these here
ब्राह्मणाःbrāhmaṇāḥbrāhmaṇas; the knowers of the sacred
अङ्गारावक्षयणम्aṅgārāvakṣayaṇamthe coal-rake (aṅgāra-avakṣayaṇa); the tool for raking out coals; the coal-tongs
अक्रताःakratāḥthey made (from √kṛ, aorist pl.); they set forth; they made
इतिitithus; how
Traducción
"Śākalya," said Yājñavalkya, "have these brāhmaṇas made you into a pair of tongs for raking out coals?"
Versión
723b4aa97a9d · publicado 27 jul 2026, 1:06:37 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
After eight repulsed "persons" comes a remark that fells at a stroke: aṅgārāvakṣayaṇa, "tongs for raking coals": is it not you, Śākalya, whom the assembly has put forward to carry the embers with bare hands? The brāhmaṇas who did not dare to ask themselves (3.9.27 will confirm it: "they did not venture") have pushed forward a swaggerer — to rake the coals out from under Yājñavalkya with someone else's tongs.
In one gibe there is both pity and warning: Śākalya is fighting a war not his own, egged on by those who will stand aside whatever the outcome. He would do well to hear it and stop — ahead lies the line beyond which the brahmodya ceases to be a game. But vanity is deaf: with his next words he will throw down the challenge that decides his fate.