Shloka 71
मा जानीत वयं बाला देही देहेषु शाश्वतः जरायौवनजन्माद्या धर्मा देहस्य नात्मनः
mā jānīta vayaṃ bālā dehī deheṣu śāśvataḥ jarāyauvanajanmādyā dharmā dehasya nātmanaḥ
O child, do not imagine that we are the body, nor that the embodied Self is forever confined within bodies. Birth, youth, and old age are conditions of the body alone, not attributes of the Ātman.
Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya, presenting a teaching voiced as direct admonition to a ‘child’/ignorant hearer)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Distinguishing the eternal embodied Self (ātman) from the perishable body and its conditions (birth, youth, old age).
Teaching: Philosophical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Birth, youth, and old age belong to the body; the ātman is distinct and not limited to bodily states.
Vedantic Theme: Atman
Application: Practice deha-ātma-viveka daily: notice bodily change without identifying it as ‘I’.
Vishishtadvaita: Affirms the self’s permanence while maintaining its embodied condition as a mode under the Lord’s governance, supporting real distinction without denying dependence.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse teaches that change (birth, youth, old age) belongs to the body, while the Self endures; this clarity supports detachment and the pursuit of liberation under Vishnu’s supreme order.
He cautions that the ‘embodied one’ is not eternally the body; what we call life-stages are merely bodily properties, mistakenly projected onto the Self.
By separating the eternal Self from transient bodily states, the teaching aligns the seeker toward the higher reality governed by Vishnu—stability, sovereignty, and liberation beyond material change.