Chapter 17 - Verse 15

Excitement : pain to living beings. Pleasant and beneficial : having respectively to do with the seen and the unseen. ‘Speech’ is specified by the attributes of ‘causing no excitement’ and so on. An invariable combination of all these attributes is here meant. That speech addressed to others which, though causing no pain, is devoid of one, two or three of the other attributes—i.e., is not true, not pleasant and not beneficial—cannot form the austerity of speech; so, that speech which, though true, is wanting in one, two, or three of the other attributes cannot form the austerity of speech : so, an agreeable speech which is wanting in one, two, or three of the other attributes cannot form the austerity of speech. So, the speech which, though beneficial, is wanting in one, two, or three of the other attributes cannot form the austerity of speech.—What forms the austerity then?—The speech that is true, that causes no excitement, that is agreeable and good, forms the austerity of speech;* as for example, “Be tranquil, my son, study (the Vedas) and practise yoga, and this will do thee good.” Practice of sacred recitation : according to ordinances.

i. e., the austerity practised specially in regard to speech, i.e., in which speech plays the leading part.—A.