Shloka 36
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
“पहले जो मैंने इसके प्रति ममता की थी, उसके कारण मुझे भिन्न-भिन्न योनियोंमें भटकना पड़ा। यद्यपि मैं ममतारहित हूँ तो भी इस प्रकृतिजनित ममताने भिन्न-भिन्न योनियोंमें मुझे डालकर मेरी बड़ी दुर्दशा कर डाली ।।
pūrvaṃ yā mayā ’smin prati mamatā kṛtā, tayā hetunā me nānāyoniṣu bhramaṇaṃ prāptam | yadyapy ahaṃ mamatārahitaḥ, tathāpi prakṛtijanita-mamatayā nānāyoniṣu nikṣipya mama mahad duḥkhaṃ kṛtam || yoniṣu vartamānena naṣṭasaṃjñena cetasā | na mamātrānayā kāryam ahaṃkārakṛtātmayā ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “Formerly, because I clung to this with possessive attachment, I was forced to wander through many kinds of births. Though I am now free from personal attachment, that attachment born of Prakṛti still cast me into diverse wombs and brought me into great misery. While moving through those births, my mind lost its clear awareness. Now I have no further use for this ego-made nature; I will not let the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ govern me again.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Possessive attachment (mamatā) and ego-sense (ahaṃkāra) bind consciousness to saṃsāra, producing repeated births and loss of clarity. Freedom comes by refusing identification with ego-made nature and cultivating detachment and self-knowledge.
Vasiṣṭha reflects on his own past bondage: due to earlier possessiveness he wandered through many births and his awareness became obscured. He now declares renunciation of ego-driven identification with Prakṛti, marking a turn toward liberation.