Shloka 2
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
तिर्यग्योनिसहस्रेषु कदाचिद् देवतास्वपि । उपपसद्यति संयोगाद् गुणै: सह गुणक्षयात्
tiryagyoni-sahasreṣu kadācid devatāsv api | upapadyati saṃyogād guṇaiḥ saha guṇa-kṣayāt ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “By the force of association and conjunction with the guṇas, and as those very guṇas wane and change, a being is born again and again—sometimes thousands of times among animal wombs, and at other times even among the gods.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Birth in lower or higher realms is driven by association with the guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas) and their changing strength; as qualities arise, mix, and diminish, the jīva cycles through many forms. Ethical implication: cultivate sattva and detach from guṇa-driven impulses to reduce bondage to saṃsāra.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing about the mechanism of transmigration: through contact with guṇas and the exhaustion/shift of those guṇas, a being repeatedly attains births—sometimes among animals, sometimes among gods—illustrating the instability of worldly status and the causal role of qualities.