Shloka 74

Atithi-satkāra and the Consolation of Wise Counsel (अतिथिसत्कारः प्रज्ञानवचनस्य च पराश्वासनम्)

Devanagari script

न हि जातो न जायेय॑ न जनिष्ये कदाचन । क्षेत्रज्ञ: सर्वभूतानां तस्मादहमज: स्मृत:,मैंने न तो पहले कभी जन्म लिया है, न अब जन्म लेता हूँ और न आगे कभी जन्म लूँगा। मैं समस्त प्राणियोंके शरीरमें रहनेवाला क्षेत्रज्ञ आत्मा हूँ। इसीलिये मेरा नाम “अज' है

Transliteration

na hi jāto na jāyeya na janiṣye kadācana | kṣetrajñaḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ tasmād aham ajaḥ smṛtaḥ ||

Translation

لم أولد في الماضي، ولا أولد الآن، ولن أولد أبداً. أنا «كْشِتْرَجْنْيَه» (kṣetrajña)—العارف الباطن—الساكن في أجساد جميع الكائنات. لذلك أُذكَر باسم «أَجَا» (Aja)، غير المولود.

Word by Word

नnot

हिindeed/for

जातःborn

नnot

जायेयम्I would be born / I should be born

नnot

जनिष्येI will be born

कदाचनever/at any time

क्षेत्रज्ञःknower of the field (indwelling self)

सर्वभूतानाम्of all beings

तस्मात्therefore/from that

अहम्I

अजःunborn

स्मृतःis called/remembered as

Speaker

तामिन्द्र उवाच गच्छ नहुषस्त्वया वाच्योथ<पूर्वेण मामृषियुक्तेन यानेन त्वमधिरूढ

Characters & Entities

kṣetrajña (the indwelling Self/Ātman)

aja (the Unborn)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the unborn nature of the true Self (Ātman) as kṣetrajña, the inner knower present in all beings. Birth and death belong to the body and changing conditions, not to the witnessing consciousness; hence the Self is called ‘Aja’ (Unborn).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, the speaker articulates a doctrinal point: the indwelling knower within all creatures is not subject to temporal birth. The statement functions as a philosophical clarification meant to reorient the listener from bodily identity to the imperishable Self.