Shloka 8
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
तिर्यग्योनिसहस्रेषु कदाचिद् देवतास्वपि । अभिमन्यत्यभीमानात् तथैव सुकृतान्यपि
tiryagyonisahasreṣu kadācid devatāsv api | abhimanyaty abhīmānāt tathaiva sukṛtāny api ||
Vasiṣṭha said: Out of delusion born of self-conceit, a being at one time identifies itself as a creature among thousands of animal wombs, and at another time takes pride in being a god. And driven by that same ego, it must also undergo the results of the deeds—good as well—performed through those respective bodies.
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Identification with a particular status—animal or divine—arises from abhimāna (egoic self-conceit). That ego-driven identification binds the being to experience the fruits of actions performed in those embodied states, including the results of meritorious deeds.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing his listener in a reflective, philosophical mode typical of the Śānti Parva: he describes how the jīva, through pride and misidentification, alternates between low and high births and consequently undergoes the karmic outcomes associated with each embodiment.