Shloka 123
Mind as Charioteer; Kṣetrajña, Tapas, and Dhyāna-Yoga
Adhyātma-Upadeśa
एवमेवाप्यसंयुक्त: पुरुष: स्यान्न संशय: । जैसे कमलके पत्तेपर पड़ी हुई जलकी चंचल बूँद उसे भिगो नहीं पाती
evam evāpy asaṁyuktaḥ puruṣaḥ syān na saṁśayaḥ |
Vāyu-deva said: “So too, a person can remain unattached—there is no doubt. Just as a restless drop of water that falls upon a lotus leaf cannot wet it, in the same way a wise person, though moving among and dealing with all the guṇas (qualities of nature), is not stained by them. Therefore the knower of the field (kṣetrajña), in truth, is non-attached; of this there is no uncertainty.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The core teaching is inner non-attachment: the wise self (kṣetrajña/puruṣa) can engage with the world and its guṇas without being tainted, like water on a lotus leaf. True freedom is not withdrawal from action but freedom from clinging and identification.
Vāyu-deva is instructing the listener on the nature of the self and liberation. He uses a vivid simile (lotus leaf and water) to clarify that the realized knower remains untouched by worldly qualities even while living amid them.