Shloka 17
Bhūta-guṇa-saṃkhyāna
Enumeration of the Properties of the Elements and Cognitive Faculties
यथा वारिचर: पक्षी न लिप्यति जले चरन् । विमुक्तात्मा तथा योगी गुणदोषैर्न लिप्यते
yathā vāricaraḥ pakṣī na lipyati jale caran | vimuktātmā tathā yogī guṇadoṣair na lipyate ||
ব্যাস ব্যাখ্যা করলেন—যেমন জলচর পাখি জলে বিচরণ করেও জলে লিপ্ত হয় না, তেমনি মুক্তচিত্ত যোগী সংসারে বাস করলেও তার গুণ-দোষে লিপ্ত হয় না।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
A truly liberated yogin remains inwardly unattached: even while living and acting in the world, he is not morally or psychologically stained by its attractions (guṇa) or defects (doṣa), just as a bird in water is not smeared by water.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Vyāsa is teaching through a vivid simile, clarifying how a person established in freedom can continue worldly life without being bound by it.