Shloka 35
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
प्राक् कृतेन ममत्वेन तासु तास्विह योनिषु । निर्ममस्य ममत्वेन कि कृतं तासु तासु च
prāk kṛtena mamatvena tāsu tāsv iha yoniṣu | nirmamasya mamatvena kiṁ kṛtaṁ tāsu tāsu ca ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “Formerly, through the habit of ‘mine-ness’, I wandered here through one womb after another. Now, for one who is free from possessiveness, what is accomplished by clinging again to ‘mine’—in this birth or in any other?”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse critiques mamatva (the possessive sense of “mine”) as a cause of repeated births and suffering, and praises nirmamatva (freedom from possessiveness) as the ethical and spiritual stance that makes clinging pointless and unproductive.
Vasiṣṭha reflects on his own past entanglement in possessiveness that led him through many forms of birth, and he now argues—by rhetorical question—that for one who has become detached, re-adopting ‘mine-ness’ serves no meaningful purpose in any life.