Shloka 17

Bhūta-guṇa-saṃkhyāna

Enumeration of the Properties of the Elements and Cognitive Faculties

Devanagari script

यथा वारिचर: पक्षी न लिप्यति जले चरन्‌ । विमुक्तात्मा तथा योगी गुणदोषैर्न लिप्यते

Transliteration

yathā vāricaraḥ pakṣī na lipyati jale caran | vimuktātmā tathā yogī guṇadoṣair na lipyate ||

Translation

Vyāsa explains that just as a water-dwelling bird moves through water without being smeared or bound by it, so too a liberated-minded yogin may live amid worldly life yet remains untouched by its qualities and faults. The ethical point is inner freedom: one may act and dwell in society, but without attachment, self-identification, or moral contamination by what one encounters.

Word by Word

• यथा: just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• वारिचरः: water-dweller
• वारिचरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वारिचर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पक्षी: bird
• पक्षी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पक्षिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• लिप्यति: is smeared/tainted (clings)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लिप्
• Form: Present (Lat), Third, Singular, Atmanepada

• जले: in water
• जले: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: जल
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• चरन्: moving/roaming
• Type: Verb
• Root: चर्
• Form: Shatru (present active participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• विमुक्तात्मा: one whose self is liberated
• विमुक्तात्मा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विमुक्तात्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: so/in the same way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• योगी: yogi
• योगी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: योगिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• गुणदोषैः: by virtues and faults
• गुणदोषैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुणदोष
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• लिप्यते: is tainted/defiled
• Type: Verb
• Root: लिप्
• Form: Present (Lat), Third, Singular, Atmanepada

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• water-dwelling bird (vāricaraḥ pakṣī)
• water (jala)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A truly liberated yogin remains inwardly unattached: even while living and acting in the world, he is not morally or psychologically stained by its attractions (guṇa) or defects (doṣa), just as a bird in water is not smeared by water.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Vyāsa is teaching through a vivid simile, clarifying how a person established in freedom can continue worldly life without being bound by it.