Shloka 3
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
मानुषत्वाद् दिवं याति दिवो मानुष्यमेव च । मानुष्यान्निर यस्थानमानन्त्यं प्रतिपद्यते
mānuṣatvād divaṃ yāti divo mānuṣyam eva ca | mānuṣyān nirayastānam ānantyaṃ pratipadyate ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “From the human state a being goes to heaven, and from heaven it returns again to human birth. And from the human world, at times, it falls into the endless abodes of hell—thus moving through higher and lower destinies according to its deeds.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches karmic mobility: beings do not remain fixed in one realm. From human life one may rise to heaven through merit, return again to human birth when that merit is exhausted, and through wrongdoing may descend into hellish states—so ethical action (dharma) is decisive for one’s trajectory.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing his listener in the moral logic of saṃsāra, describing how a jīva moves among human, heavenly, and hellish destinations. The point is admonitory: human life is a pivotal station where choices can lead upward or downward.