Shloka 29
Jvarotpatti — The Origin and Distribution of Jvara
Fever
अथवा सशरीरास्ते गुणा: सर्वे शरीरिणाम् । संश्रितास्तद् वियोगे हि सशरीरा न सन्ति ते
athavā saśarīrās te guṇāḥ sarve śarīriṇām | saṃśritās tad-viyoge hi saśarīrā na santi te ||
অথবা—সেই সকল গুণ দেহসহ দেহধারী জীবের উপরই নির্ভরশীল; কারণ তার বিচ্ছেদ ঘটলে, দেহসহ তারা আর পূর্বের মতো থাকে না।
असित उवाच
Educational Q&A
The body and its operative faculties (guṇas in the sense of embodied constituents) are dependent on the presence of the indwelling self; when the self departs, the body and those functions no longer persist. Therefore one should not take the psycho-physical complex as the ultimate self.
Asita is explaining a metaphysical point within the Shānti Parva’s instruction: he argues that the constituents of embodied existence remain only so long as the living self is connected with the body; separation (death) reveals their contingent nature.