Shloka 2

Devanagari script

तिर्यग्योनिसहस्रेषु कदाचिद्‌ देवतास्वपि । उपपसद्यति संयोगाद्‌ गुणै: सह गुणक्षयात्‌,वह गुणोंके साथ सम्बन्ध होनेसे उन्हीं गुणोंकी सामर्थ्यसे कभी सहस्रों बार तिर्यग्योनियोंमें और कभी देवताओं में जन्म लेता है

Transliteration

tiryagyoni-sahasreṣu kadācid devatāsv api | upapadyati saṃyogād guṇaiḥ saha guṇa-kṣayāt ||

Translation

Vasiṣṭha sprach: „Durch die Kraft der Verbindung und Verknüpfung mit den Guṇas, und indem eben diese Guṇas schwinden und sich wandeln, wird ein Wesen immer wieder geboren—bisweilen tausendfach in Tierleibern, bisweilen sogar unter den Göttern.“

Word by Word

तिर्यग्योनिसहस्रेषुin thousands of animal-wombs (lower births)

कदाचित्sometimes

देवतासुamong the deities

अपिalso/even

उपपद्यतिis born/comes to be

संयोगात्from (the cause of) conjunction/association

गुणैःwith/by the qualities (gunas)

सहtogether with

गुणक्षयात्from the diminution/waning of the qualities

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasiṣṭha

tiryagyoni (animal births)

devatā (gods)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Birth in lower or higher realms is driven by association with the guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas) and their changing strength; as qualities arise, mix, and diminish, the jīva cycles through many forms. Ethical implication: cultivate sattva and detach from guṇa-driven impulses to reduce bondage to saṃsāra.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is instructing about the mechanism of transmigration: through contact with guṇas and the exhaustion/shift of those guṇas, a being repeatedly attains births—sometimes among animals, sometimes among gods—illustrating the instability of worldly status and the causal role of qualities.