Shloka 18
अध्याय २९७ — श्रेयः, धृति, दान-नियमाः
Welfare, Steadfastness, and Norms of Giving
न जायते तु नृपते कंचित् कालमयं पुनः । परिभ्रमति भूतात्मा द्यामिवाम्बुधरो महान्
na jāyate tu nṛpate kaṃcit kālamayaṃ punaḥ | paribhramati bhūtātmā dyām ivāmbudharo mahān ||
হে নৃপতি! ভূতাত্মা কাল-নির্মিত কোনো নতুন সত্তা হয়ে পুনরায় জন্মায় না; বরং মহান মেঘের মতো আকাশে পরিভ্রমণ করে—অবস্থা থেকে অবস্থায় ঘুরে বেড়ায়।
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the self is not newly manufactured by Time at each ‘rebirth’; instead, the embodied being continues its wandering through changing states, like a cloud traversing the sky. This supports an ethical stance of seeking stable wisdom and dharmic conduct amid impermanence.
Parāśara addresses a king and uses a vivid simile—an immense cloud moving across the sky—to explain the soul’s ongoing transmigration. The point is to reframe ‘birth again’ as continued movement through conditions rather than the creation of a completely new entity.