Shloka 7
Ṛṣabhadeva’s Indifference to Siddhis, Vigilance Toward the Mind, and the Kali-yuga Rise of Anti-Vedic धर्म
तस्य ह वा एवं मुक्तलिङ्गस्य भगवत ऋषभस्य योगमायावासनया देह इमां जगतीमभिमानाभासेन सङ्क्रममाण: कोङ्कवेङ्ककुटकान्दक्षिणकर्णाटकान्देशान् यदृच्छयोपगत: कुटकाचलोपवन आस्यकृताश्मकवल उन्माद इव मुक्तमूर्धजोऽसंवीत एव विचचार ॥ ७ ॥
tasya ha vā evaṁ mukta-liṅgasya bhagavata ṛṣabhasya yoga-māyā-vāsanayā deha imāṁ jagatīm abhimānābhāsena saṅkramamāṇaḥ koṅka-veṅka-kuṭakān dakṣiṇa-karṇāṭakān deśān yadṛcchayopagataḥ kuṭakācalopavana āsya kṛtāśma-kavala unmāda iva mukta-mūrdhajo ’saṁvīta eva vicacāra.
Actually Lord Ṛṣabhadeva had no material body, but due to yoga-māyā He considered His body material, and therefore, because He played like an ordinary human being, He gave up the mentality of identifying with it. Following this principle, He began to wander all over the world. While traveling, He came to the province of Karṇāṭa in South India and passed through Koṅka, Veṅka and Kuṭaka. He had no plan to travel this way, but He arrived near Kuṭakācala and entered a forest there. He placed stones within His mouth and began to wander through the forest, naked and with His hair disheveled like a madman.
FAQs
Though fully liberated, Ṛṣabhadeva enacts avadhūta-like behavior by Yogamāyā’s arrangement to teach radical detachment from bodily identity and social labels.
Mukta-liṅga indicates one who is free from external material designations—social identity, ego-based markers, and bodily conceptions—remaining spiritually situated.
Practice reducing ego-based identity (status, appearance, roles) and cultivate inner steadiness through devotion, remembering that the self is distinct from the body and public opinion.