Shloka 29

Devanagari script

एषा तत्त्वचतुर्विशा सर्वाकृतिषु वर्तते । यां ज्ञात्वा नाभिशोचन्ति ब्राह्मणास्तत्त्वदर्शिन:,ये चौबीस तत्त्व सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंके शरीरोंमें मौजूद रहते हैं। तत्त्वदर्शी ब्राह्मण इनके यथार्थ स्वरूपको जानकर कभी शोक नहीं करते हैं

Transliteration

eṣā tattvacaturviśā sarvākṛtiṣu vartate | yāṁ jñātvā nābhiśocanti brāhmaṇās tattvadarśinaḥ ||

Translation

Diese Gesamtheit von vierundzwanzig Prinzipien durchdringt alle verkörperten Gestalten. Wer sie erkennt, wie sie wahrhaft ist, der wahrheitsschauende Brahmane verfällt nicht in Kummer—denn er sieht, dass Körper und Wandel des Körpers nur Erzeugnisse jener Prinzipien sind, während der Erkennende (Ātman) durch das bloß Gebildete und wieder Aufgelöste nicht gemindert wird.

Word by Word

एषाthis (she/this)

तत्त्वचतुर्विंशाthe set of twenty-four principles

सर्वाकृतिषुin all forms/bodies

वर्ततेexists/abides

याम्which (whom/that)

ज्ञात्वाhaving known

नnot

अभिशोचन्तिgrieve (over), lament

ब्राह्मणाःBrahmins

तत्त्वदर्शिनःseers of truth, truth-knowers

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

व

वसिष्ठ (Vasiṣṭha)

ब

ब्राह्मणाः (brahmins, truth-seers)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

All embodied beings are constituted by a common set of twenty-four fundamental principles; realizing their nature removes grief, because one no longer mistakes changing constituents of embodiment for the enduring reality.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is instructing his listener in a peace-oriented, philosophical discourse: he points to the universal presence of the twenty-four tattvas in all bodies and explains that true insight into them makes the wise free from lamentation.