śrī-ṛṣiḥ uvāca - the great saint Dadhīci said; dharmam - the principles of religion; vaḥ - from you; śrotu-kāmena - by the desire to hear; yūyam - you; me - by me; pratyudāhṛtāḥ - replied to the contrary; eṣaḥ - this; vaḥ - for you; priyam - dear; ātmānam - body; tyajantam - leaving me anyway, today or tomorrow; santyajāmi - give up; aham - I.

The great sage Dadhīci said: Just to hear from you about religious principles, I refused to offer my body at your request. Now, although my body is extremely dear to me, I must give it up for your better purposes since I know that it will leave me today or tomorrow.