Shloka 736
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
बहिरात्मान इत्येते दीना: कृषणजीविन: । लोभ
bahirātmāna ity ete dīnāḥ kṛpaṇajīvinaḥ | lobhaḥ, lobhapūrvakaṃ kriyamāṇaṃ karma ca tatkarmotthāni ca sarvāṇi phalāni samabhāvena vastuto na kiṃcid eva | śarīrasya bāhyāṅgāni raktamāṃsasaṅghātādayaḥ parasparāśrayabhūtāḥ | tasmād ete dīnāḥ kṛpaṇāś ca matāḥ ||
Vāyu-deva said: “Those who take the outer body to be the Self are pitiable, living in a miserly way. Greed, actions performed under the impulse of greed, and all the results that arise from such actions—when seen with equal vision—are in truth nothing at all. The body’s external limbs are merely aggregates of blood and flesh, each supported by the other. Therefore such people are regarded as wretched and mean-spirited.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not mistake the outer body for the Self. Greed-driven action and its rewards are ultimately empty; cultivate equal vision and detach from bodily identification.
Vāyu-deva delivers an instruction that critiques bodily self-identification and condemns greed, framing the body as a perishable aggregate and urging equanimity toward actions and their fruits.