奥义书 · Kaṭha 2.2
॥
天城文
श्रेयश् च प्रेयश् च मनुष्यम् एतस् तौ संपरीत्य विविनक्ति धीरः ।
श्रेयो हि धीरो ऽभि प्रेयसो वृणीते प्रेयो मन्दो योगक्षेमाद् वृणीते
转写 (IAST)
śreyaś ca preyaś ca manuṣyam etas tau saṃparītya vivinakti dhīraḥ /
śreyo hi dhīro 'bhi preyaso vṛṇīte preyo mando yogakṣemād vṛṇīte
逐字释义
梵语IAST释义
श्रेयःśreyaḥthe wholesome; the highest good
चcaand; as well as
प्रेयःpreyaḥwhat is pleasing; what is wished
चcaand; as well as
मनुष्यम्manuṣyamthe man; a mortal
एतस्etasthese two; they
तौtauthese two; both
संपरीत्यsaṃparītyahaving gone round (sam-pari-√i); having considered on every side; having weighed both
विविनक्तिvivinaktihe discriminates (vi-√vic — 'to separate, to sift'); he separates; he discerns
धीरःdhīraḥwise; the steadfast one
श्रेयःśreyaḥthe wholesome; the better
हिhiindeed; for
धीरःdhīraḥwise; the steadfast one
अभिabhiinstead of; in preference to
प्रेयसःpreyasaḥthe pleasant; the desirable
वृणीतेvṛṇītechooses; prefers
प्रेयःpreyaḥwhat is pleasing; what is wished
मन्दःmandaḥthe dull man (manda — 'sluggish, dim'); slow of mind; the thick-witted
योगक्षेमात्yogakṣemātfor gain and safe-keeping (yoga-kṣema); for acquisition and preservation; out of household care
वृणीतेvṛṇītechooses; prefers
译文
The good and the pleasant approach a man. The wise one, having gone round them both, discriminates: he chooses the good in preference to the pleasant; but the dull man chooses the pleasant for the sake of gain and safe-keeping.
版本
a68374b7ee33 · 发布于 2026年7月26日 21:13:03 UTC
可用语言RUEN用方向键翻颂
The verse describes the mechanism of choice itself. saṁparītya — "having gone round" (sam-pari-√i): the dhīra does not snatch at the first thing offered — he walks around both proposals from every side, like a buyer round a horse, and only then vivinakti — "discriminates" (vi-√vic — "to separate, to sift"). Discrimination is labour, not a flash; wisdom begins with the refusal to decide in haste.
mandaḥ — "the sluggish, the dull" — chooses the pleasant yoga-kṣemāt — "for the sake of gain and safe-keeping": yoga here is "the acquisition of the new", kṣema "the preserving of what is acquired". A brilliant diagnosis: the man who chooses the pleasant is moved not so much by passion as by care — to accumulate and to hold; the greyness of calculation, not the vividness of sin. It is not villains who pass by the eternal — it is the good householders.
The Bhagavad-gītā (2.69) carries the distinction into an image: yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī — "what is night for all beings, in that the self-controlled man is awake": the values of the dhīra and the values of the crowd are like day and night, two incompatible wakings. The Kaṭha will say the same more harshly in the verses that follow — about the blind and their guides.