Shloka 436
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
सर्गकोटिसहस्राणि मरणान्तासु मूर्तिषु । स्त्री-पुत्र आदिके प्रति ममतासे बँधा हुआ पुरुष उन्हींके संसर्गमें रहकर सहसख्र-सहस्र कोटि सृष्टिपर्यन्त नश्वर शरीरोंमें ही सदा चक्कर लगाता रहता है
sargakoṭisahasrāṇi maraṇāntāsu mūrtiṣu | strī-putrādike prati mamatāyā baddhaḥ puruṣaḥ teṣām eva saṃsargeṇa tiṣṭhan sahasra-sahasra-koṭi-sṛṣṭi-paryantaṃ naśvare śarīreṣu eva sadā cakraṃ lagati ||
Vasiṣṭha said: Bound by possessive attachment toward wife, son, and the like, a man remains in their company and, through that very entanglement, keeps revolving endlessly—through thousands upon thousands of crores of creations—only in perishable bodies that end in death.
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Possessive attachment (mamatā) to family relations binds the individual and sustains saṃsāra; association driven by 'mine-ness' leads to repeated embodiment in perishable, death-bound bodies across vast cosmic cycles. The ethical thrust is to cultivate detachment and discernment so that love and duty are not confused with clinging.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Vasiṣṭha addresses the mechanism of bondage: a person, captivated by wife, children, and similar ties, stays immersed in their company and thereby continues to revolve through innumerable births, never escaping mortality.