Shloka 11
भिक्षुलक्षणम्—एकचर्याः, अहिंसा, कैवल्याश्रमः
Marks of the Mendicant: Solitary Wandering, Non-Injury, and the Kaivalya-Discipline
भूतानां जन्म सर्वेषां विविधानां चतुर्विधम् | जरायुजाण्डजोद्धिज्जस्वेदजं चोपलक्षयेत्
bhūtānāṃ janma sarveṣāṃ vividhānāṃ caturvidham | jarāyujāṇḍajodbhijja-svedajaṃ copalakṣayet |
Vyāsa says: One should observe that the birth of all beings, in their many varieties, is fourfold—those born from a womb (jarāyuja), those born from an egg (āṇḍaja), those arising from moisture/heat (svedaja), and those sprouting from the earth (udbhijja). This reflection broadens one’s understanding of saṃsāra and encourages a discerning, non-harmful outlook toward all forms of life.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
To cultivate reflective discernment about saṃsāra by recognizing that all living beings arise through four traditional modes of birth; this supports an ethical attitude of respect and restraint toward life in its many forms.
Vyāsa is instructing the listener in a contemplative, knowledge-oriented strand of Śānti Parva, directing attention to the diversity of embodied existence by enumerating the fourfold classification of births.