Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 89
Bharata’s Attachment and the Palanquin Teaching on ‘I’ and ‘Mine’
पुमान्न देवो न नरो न पशुर्न च पादपः । शरीराकृतिभेदास्तु भूपैते कर्मयोनयः ॥ ८९ ॥
pumānna devo na naro na paśurna ca pādapaḥ | śarīrākṛtibhedāstu bhūpaite karmayonayaḥ || 89 ||
Das Selbst ist in Wahrheit weder ein Gott noch ein Mensch noch ein Tier, ja nicht einmal eine Pflanze. O König, dies sind nur Unterschiede der leiblichen Gestalt, entsprossen aus dem Schoß des Karma, der Ursache der Verkörperung.
Sanatkumara (teaching Narada; addressing a king as 'bhūpa')
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: none
FAQs
It teaches dehātīta-jñāna: the true Self is not any species or status; “god, human, animal, plant” are karma-produced bodily labels, and liberation begins by disidentifying from them.
By shifting identity from body to the inner Self, a devotee can offer bhakti with humility and steadiness—seeing all beings as embodied by karma while directing devotion to the Lord beyond bodily categories.
The verse is primarily moksha-dharma (not a technical Vedanga instruction), but it supports dharmic practice by grounding ethics and ritual in right understanding: varna/species distinctions are bodily and karma-based, not the Self.