Shloka 13

Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse

Devanagari script

तथैव वागुरां छिक्त्वा बलवन्तो यथा मृगा: । प्राप्तुयुर्विमलं मार्ग विमुक्ता: सर्वबन्धनै:,राजन! इसी प्रकार जैसे बलवान्‌ मृग जाल तोड़कर सारे बन्धनोंसे मुक्त हो निर्विघ्न मार्गपर चले जाते हैं, वैसे ही योगबलसे सम्पन्न योगी पुरुष लोभजनित सब बन्धनोंको तोड़कर परम निर्मल कल्याणमय मार्गको प्राप्त कर लेते हैं

Transliteration

tathaiva vāgurāṁ chittvā balavanto yathā mṛgāḥ | prāptuyur vimalaṁ mārgaṁ vimuktāḥ sarvabandhanaiḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “Just as strong deer, having torn apart the hunter’s net, become free from every restraint and proceed along an unobstructed path, so too do yogins endowed with the power of yoga break the bonds born of greed and attain the supremely pure, auspicious path.”

Word by Word

• {'tathā eva': 'just so

• in the same way', 'vāgurām': 'a net/snare (used for catching animals)', 'chittvā': 'having cut/torn apart (absolutive of √chid)', 'balavantaḥ': 'strong, powerful (plural)', 'yathā': 'as, just like', 'mṛgāḥ': 'deer

• wild animals (here, deer)', 'prāptuyuḥ': 'they would attain/reach (optative/benedictive sense)', 'vimalaṁ': 'stainless, pure, untainted', 'mārgaṁ': 'path

• way (also: spiritual path)', 'vimuktāḥ': 'released, liberated, freed', 'sarva-bandhanaiḥ': 'from all bonds/fetters (instrumental plural)', 'lobha-janita': 'born of greed (sense supplied by the prose gloss)', 'yoga-bala': 'the strength/power arising from yoga (sense supplied by the prose gloss)', 'kalyāṇa-maya': 'consisting of welfare/auspiciousness (sense supplied by the prose gloss)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• deer (mṛga)
• net/snare (vāgurā)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Greed creates binding fetters; through yogic discipline and inner strength, one can cut these bonds and move toward a pure, auspicious path leading to spiritual freedom.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction to the king (Yudhishthira), he uses a vivid simile: strong deer tear a net and walk freely; likewise, a yogin breaks greed-born attachments and proceeds unobstructed on the path of purification and liberation.