Shloka 24
कर्मनाशाभावः, गर्भे जीवप्रवेशः, आचारधर्मोपदेशः
Karma’s Non-Extinction, Jīva’s Entry into the Embryo, and Instruction on Conduct-Dharma
शरीरग्रहणं चास्य केन पूर्व प्रकल्पितम् । इत्येवं संशयो लोके तच्च वक्ष्याम्पत: परम्,आत्माके शरीर धारण करनेकी प्रथा सबसे पहले किसने चलायी है, इस प्रकारका संदेह प्रायः लोगोंके मनमें उठा करता है, अतः उसीका उत्तर दे रहा हूँ
śarīra-grahaṇaṁ cāsya kena pūrvaṁ prakalpitam | ity evaṁ saṁśayo loke tac ca vakṣyāmi tataḥ param ||
“And by whom was this practice first instituted—of the Self taking up a body? Such a doubt commonly arises in the world. Therefore I shall now state the answer to it in due order.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical inquiry: embodiment is not treated as a random accident but as something with an intelligible origin or ordinance. The speaker signals a structured explanation, encouraging disciplined questioning and reasoned teaching about the Self’s relation to the body.
A Brahmin speaker responds to a commonly held doubt—who first established the ‘practice’ of the Self assuming a body—and announces that he will explain the matter step by step in the subsequent discourse.