Shloka 17

Brahmopadeśa on Saṃnyāsa, Tapas, and Jñāna (ब्रह्मोपदेशः—संन्यासतपोज्ञानविमर्शः)

Devanagari script

इस वृक्षपर रहनेवाले (मन-बुद्धिरूप) दो पक्षी हैं, जो नित्य क्रियाशील होनेपर भी अचेतन हैं। इन दोनोंसे श्रेष्ठ अन्य (आत्मा) है, वह ज्ञानसम्पन्न कहा जाता है ।। अचेतन: सत्त्वसंख्याविमुक्त: सत्त्वात्‌ परं चेतयतेडन्तरात्मा । स क्षेत्रवित्‌ सर्वसंख्यातबुद्धि- गुणातिगो मुच्यते सर्वपापै:,संख्यासे रहित जो सत्त्व अर्थात्‌ मूलप्रकृति है, वह अचेतन है। उससे भिन्न जो जीवात्मा है, उसे अन्तर्यामी परमात्मा ज्ञानसम्पन्न करता है। वही क्षेत्रको जाननेवाला जब सम्पूर्ण तत्त्वोंको जान लेता है, तब गुणातीत होकर सब पापोंसे छूट जाता है

Transliteration

vayudeva uvāca | asmin vṛkṣe paryavasthitau (mano-buddhi-rūpau) dvau pakṣiṇau staḥ, yau nityaṃ kriyāśīlau sanāv api acetanaḥ | etābhyāṃ śreṣṭho 'nyaḥ (ātmā) sa jñānasampanna iti kathyate || acetanaḥ sattva-saṅkhyā-vimuktaḥ; sattvāt paraṃ cetayaty antarātmā | sa kṣetrajñaḥ sarva-saṅkhyāta-buddhir guṇātīto mucyate sarva-pāpaiḥ ||

Translation

Vāyu said: “Upon this tree dwell two birds—figures for mind and intellect—ever active, yet themselves insentient. Superior to these two is another, the Self, which is called endowed with true knowledge. Prakṛti, the primordial ‘sattva’ beyond enumeration, is insentient; distinct from it, the individual self is awakened and illumined by the inner Ruler, the Supreme Self. When that knower of the field comes to comprehend all the principles of existence, he transcends the guṇas and is released from every sin.”

Word by Word

अचेतनःinsentient

सत्त्व-सङ्ख्या-विमुक्तःfree from the enumeration/category of sattva (i.e., beyond the guṇas/saṅkhyā)

सत्त्वात्from sattva / from primordial nature

परम्the higher/supreme (one)

चेतयतेmakes conscious / illumines

अन्तरात्माthe inner Self

सःhe/that

क्षेत्रवित्knower of the field (body/realm)

सर्व-सङ्ख्यात-बुद्धिःwhose understanding has fully enumerated/known all principles

गुण-अतिगःone who has gone beyond the guṇas

मुच्यतेis released

सर्व-पापैःfrom all sins/evils

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyudeva

vṛkṣa (tree metaphor)

two birds (mind and intellect)

Ātman

Antarātmā/Paramātman

Prakṛti (mūlaprakṛti/sattva)

Kṣetrajña

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Mind and intellect are active instruments but not self-luminous consciousness. True awakening comes from the indwelling Supreme Self (antarātmā/Paramātman). When the knower of the field discerns the principles of prakṛti and the Self, he transcends the guṇas and becomes free from moral and karmic impurity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva delivers a doctrinal instruction using the metaphor of a tree with two birds. He identifies the ‘birds’ with inner faculties (mind and intellect) and points beyond them to the Self and the inner Ruler, framing liberation as the result of discriminative knowledge and guṇa-transcendence.