Shloka 82
भरतचरितम्—मृगासक्ति-हेतुकः समाधिभङ्गः, जातिस्मरत्वं, रहूगण-जाḍभरत-संवादः
शब्दो ऽहम् इति दोषाय नात्मन्य् एष तथैव तत् अनात्मन्य् आत्मविज्ञानं शब्दो वा भ्रान्तिलक्षणः
śabdo 'ham iti doṣāya nātmany eṣa tathaiva tat anātmany ātmavijñānaṃ śabdo vā bhrāntilakṣaṇaḥ
The mere word “I” becomes a cause of fault, for it does not truly belong to the Ātman; likewise, “self-knowledge” in what is not the Self is only a word—marked by delusion.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How ‘I’ becomes error when superimposed on the non-Self (anātman)
Teaching: Philosophical
Quality: analytical, discriminative
Concept: ‘I’-language becomes दोष when it is attached to the non-Self; selfhood attributed to anātman is merely verbal convention marked by भ्रम (delusion).
Vedantic Theme: Maya
Application: Practice ātma-viveka: when thoughts say ‘I am angry / I am failing,’ reframe as ‘anger is arising in mind’ and return to the witnessing self.
Vishishtadvaita: Rejects misidentification with inert matter while keeping the self real; in Vishishtadvaita, the error is taking body/mind as the self rather than as the self’s instruments within Brahman’s order.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
It warns that the ordinary “I” (aham) becomes erroneous when it is attached to what is not the true Self—turning identity into a verbal habit rooted in delusion.
He frames it as misapplied self-knowledge: calling the non-Self “I” is not real insight but a śabda (mere term) whose hallmark is bhrānti (mistaken appearance).
The verse supports the Purana’s larger teaching that true knowledge culminates in the supreme reality—Vishnu—beyond egoic labeling, where the Self is known without confusion with body or mind.