Shloka 31

सूक्ष्मभूत-भूतात्मविज्ञानम्

Knowing the subtle principle and the bhūtātman through yoga

Devanagari script

भूमावसक्तं दिवि चाप्रमेयं हिरण्मयं यो5ण्डजमण्डमध्ये | पतत्त्रिणं पक्षिणमन्तरिक्षे यो वेद भोग्यात्मनि रश्मिदीप्त:,जो पृथ्वीपर रहकर भी उसमें आसक्त नहीं है, अनन्त आकाशमें अप्रमेयभावसे स्थित है, जो हिरण्मय (चिन्मय ज्योतिस्वरूप), अण्डज--ब्रह्माण्डके भीतर प्रादुर्भूत और अण्ड- पिण्डात्मक शरीरके मध्यभागमें स्थित हृदय-कमलके आसनपर, भोग्यात्मा (शरीर) के अन्तर्गत हृदयाकाशमें जीवरूपसे विराजमान है; जिसमें अनेक अंगदेवता छोटे-छोटे पंखोंके समान शोभा पाते हैं तथा जो मोद और प्रमोद नामक दो प्रमुख पंखोंसे शोभायमान है; उस सुवर्णमय पक्षीरूप जीवात्मा एवं ब्रह्मको जो जानता है, वह ज्ञानकी तेजोमयी किरणोंसे प्रकाशित होता है

Transliteration

bhūmāvasaktaṃ divi cāprameyaṃ hiraṇmayaṃ yo ’ṇḍajamaṇḍamadhye | patattriṇaṃ pakṣiṇamantarikṣe yo veda bhogyātmani raśmidīptaḥ ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: He who knows that radiant, golden Self—though dwelling upon the earth yet not clinging to it; established in the immeasurable heaven-like expanse; manifested within the cosmic egg and also seated in the heart-lotus within the embodied being, moving like a bird in the inner sky—such a knower shines, illumined by the blazing rays of knowledge.

Word by Word

भूमौon/in the earth

आसक्तम्attached

दिविin heaven/in the sky

चand

अप्रमेयम्immeasurable, unknowable by measure

हिरण्मयम्golden; made of gold

यःwho

अण्डजegg-born; (here) the egg-born one/bird

अण्डमध्येin the middle of the egg (brahmāṇḍa)

पतत्त्रिणम्winged one

पक्षिणम्bird

अन्तरिक्षेin the mid-air/atmosphere

यःwho

वेदknows

भोग्यात्मनिin the enjoy-able self (i.e., the body as object of experience)

रश्मिदीप्तःshining with rays; radiant

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

jīvātman (individual self, implied)

brahmāṇḍa (cosmic egg, implied by aṇḍaja/maṇḍa)

hṛdaya (heart, implied by the heart-lotus imagery in the received text/tradition)

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?

The verse teaches vairāgya (non-attachment) grounded in ātma-jñāna: the Self can be present in embodied life and the world yet remain untouched. Realizing the luminous inner Self—symbolized as a golden bird moving in the inner sky—one becomes ‘raśmi-dīpta’, radiant with the light of knowledge.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Vyāsa describes the indwelling Self through a symbolic image (golden, winged, moving in the inner space). The focus is contemplative teaching rather than external action: it directs the listener to recognize the Self within the body and cosmos and thereby transcend bondage.