Shloka 7
Dharma-Pramāṇa-Vicāra: The Elusiveness of Dharma and the Limits of Rule-Lists
तेषां नित्यं सदा नित्यो भूतात्मा सततं गुणै: । सप्तभिस्त्वन्वित: सूक्ष्मैश्षरिष्णुरजरामर:,उन योगियोंका नित्य-स्वरूप जीव सदा सात सूक्ष्म गुणों (महत्तत््व, अहंकार और पाँच तन्मात्राओं)-से युक्त हो अजर-अमर देवताओंकी भाँति नित्यप्रति विचरता रहता है
teṣāṁ nityaṁ sadā nityo bhūtātmā satataṁ guṇaiḥ | saptabhis tv anvitaḥ sūkṣmaiḥ śarīṣṇur ajarāmaraḥ ||
Vyāsa said: For them, the individual self—everlasting by nature—remains perpetually endowed with subtle constituents. United with the seven subtle principles, it moves on continuously, undecaying and deathless, like the gods.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the yogin recognizes the self as intrinsically eternal, continuing its course while associated with subtle constituents (the seven subtle principles). This supports ethical steadiness: fearlessness toward death, reduced attachment to the body, and commitment to inner discipline aimed at liberation.
Vyāsa is explaining a doctrinal point in Śānti Parva: the nature of the individual self as understood by yogins. He describes how it persists and ‘moves on’ while accompanied by subtle principles, characterizing it as undecaying and deathless, comparable to the gods.