Shloka 8
न हीदृशमहं भावमवश: प्राप्प केवलम् | यदेवमभिजानामि का व्यथा मे विजानतः,मैं इस गर्दभ-शरीरको पाकर भी विवश नहीं हुआ हूँ। जब मैं इस प्रकार देहकी अनित्यता और आत्माकी असंगताको जानता हूँ, तब यह जानते हुए मुझे क्या व्यथा हो सकती है?
śakra uvāca | na hīdṛśam ahaṃ bhāvam avaśaḥ prāpya kevalam | yad evam abhijānāmi kā vyathā me vijānataḥ ||
“Even after obtaining such a condition, I have not become helpless merely because of it. Since I clearly understand—the impermanence of the body and the unattached nature of the Self (Ātman)—what suffering could there be for me, who knows?”
श॒क्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
True distress arises from identification with the body and circumstances; one who knows the body’s impermanence and the Self’s non-attachment is not inwardly compelled by external conditions and therefore remains free from suffering.
Śakra (Indra), speaking from within an adverse embodied condition (alluded to in the passage as a donkey-like body), declares that he is not helpless because he retains discriminative knowledge: understanding the transient nature of the body and the unattached Self, he sees no reason for anguish.