Shloka 42
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत आश्वमेधिकपर्वके अन्तर्गत अनुगीतापर्वमें गुरु-शिष्य- संवादविषयक बयालीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ,निर्द्धदद्वों निर्ममस्कारो नि:ःस्वाहाकार एव च | अचलकश्चानिकेतत्ष क्षेत्रज्ञ: स परो विभु: क्षेत्रज् सुख-दुखादि द्वन्द्ोंसे रहित, किसीको नमस्कार न करनेवाला, स्वाहाकाररूप यज्ञादि कर्म न करनेवाला, अचल और अनिकेत है। वही महान् विभु है
nirdvandvo nirmamaskāro niḥsvāhākāra eva ca | acalaś cāniketaḥ kṣetrajñaḥ sa paro vibhuḥ ||
Vāyu said: The Knower of the Field (the inner Self) is free from all pairs of opposites such as pleasure and pain; he does not bow in dependence to anyone, nor is he bound to sacrificial acts performed with the utterance of “svāhā.” Unmoving and without any fixed abode, that Kṣetrajña is the supreme, all-pervading Lord.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The liberated Self (kṣetrajña) is characterized by inner steadiness and non-attachment: it transcends pleasure and pain and is not defined by external markers such as ritual performance or social gestures of dependence. True sovereignty is inward—freedom from compulsion and duality.
In the Anugītā’s guru–śiṣya style discourse within the Aśvamedhika Parva, Vāyu describes the nature of the supreme Self. The verse functions as a doctrinal summary: it identifies signs of realization—nirdvandva (beyond opposites), acala (unshaken), and aniketa (unattached to place or possession).