Shloka 8
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
तिर्यग्योनिसहस्रेषु कदाचिद् देवतास्वपि । अभिमन्यत्यभीमानात् तथैव सुकृतान्यपि
tiryagyonisahasreṣu kadācid devatāsv api | abhimanyaty abhīmānāt tathaiva sukṛtāny api ||
বসিষ্ঠ বললেন—অহংকারজাত মোহে সে কখনও নিজেকে সহস্র সহস্র তির্যক্যোনির জীব বলে মনে করে, আবার কখনও দেবত্বের গর্ব ধারণ করে; আর সেই একই অহংকারের বশে ঐ ঐ দেহে কৃত সুকৃত কর্মের ফলও ভোগ করে।
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Identification with a particular status—animal or divine—arises from abhimāna (egoic self-conceit). That ego-driven identification binds the being to experience the fruits of actions performed in those embodied states, including the results of meritorious deeds.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing his listener in a reflective, philosophical mode typical of the Śānti Parva: he describes how the jīva, through pride and misidentification, alternates between low and high births and consequently undergoes the karmic outcomes associated with each embodiment.