Shloka 33

Devanagari script

जातीमरणरोगैश्व समाविष्ट: प्रधानवित्‌ | चेतनावत्सु चैतन्यं सम॑ भूतेषु पश्यति

Transliteration

jāti-maraṇa-rogaiś ca samāviṣṭaḥ pradhāna-vit | cetanāvatsu caitanyaṃ samaṃ bhūteṣu paśyati ||

Translation

The Brāhmaṇa said: Though beings are beset by birth, death, and disease, the knower of the Pradhāna (the fundamental principle of nature) perceives the same consciousness present in all conscious creatures, seeing an equal inner awareness across all beings.

Word by Word

जाति-मरण-रोगैःby/with birth, death, and diseases

चand

समाविष्टःentered/afflicted/possessed

प्रधान-वित्knower of Pradhāna (the primordial principle)

चेतनावत्सुin those that are conscious/possessed of sentience

चैतन्यम्consciousness

समम्equal(ly), the same

भूतेषुin beings/creatures

पश्यतिsees

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

ब

ब्राह्मण (speaker)

प

प्रधान (Pradhāna)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A wise person who understands Pradhāna sees the same consciousness in all sentient beings. This ‘equal vision’ grounds ethical conduct—reducing cruelty and partiality—because one recognizes a shared inner awareness despite the universal conditions of birth, death, and disease.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a didactic passage of the Aśvamedhika Parva, a Brāhmaṇa speaker presents a philosophical observation: although embodied life is marked by suffering and change, the discerning knower perceives an underlying sameness of consciousness across beings, framing a moral-spiritual perspective within the discourse.