Shloka 423
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
तेन देवमनुष्येषु निरये चोपपद्यते । इसी तरह बारी-बारीसे वह जीव मानव-योनिसे नरकमें (और नरकसे मानवयोनिमें) आता-जाता रहता है। आत्मासे भिन्न तथा आत्माके गुण चैतन्य आदिसे युक्त जो इन्द्रियोंका समुदाय शरीरमें ऐसी भावना रखता है कि “यह मैं हूँ” वही देवलोक
tena deva-manuṣyeṣu niraye copapadyate |
Vasiṣṭha said: By that misidentification, the embodied being is born among gods and humans, and also falls into hell. Thus, again and again it wanders—moving from human birth to hell and back—because it takes the aggregate of the senses lodged in the body, distinct from the Self, to be “I.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Misidentifying the Self with the body and senses (the ‘I am this’ notion) becomes the cause of repeated transmigration, leading to births in higher and lower realms—including heaven, human life, and hell.
Vasiṣṭha is explaining the mechanism of saṃsāra: due to egoic identification with the sensory aggregate in the body, the jīva repeatedly attains different states of existence, cycling through various realms.