Shloka 94
भरतचरितम्—मृगासक्ति-हेतुकः समाधिभङ्गः, जातिस्मरत्वं, रहूगण-जाḍभरत-संवादः
पुमान् न देवो न नरो न पशुर् न च पादपः शरीराकृतिभेदास् तु भूपैते कर्मयोनयः
pumān na devo na naro na paśur na ca pādapaḥ śarīrākṛtibhedās tu bhūpaite karmayonayaḥ
A being is not, in truth, inherently a god, nor a man, nor an animal, nor even a plant. O king, these distinctions are only differences of bodily form—births and conditions brought forth by one’s own karma.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya; addressing 'bhūpa' as a general royal addressee in the discourse)
Concept: No being is intrinsically god, human, animal, or plant; such categories arise from bodily-form differences produced by one’s own karma and its resultant births.
Vedantic Theme: Atman
Application: Practice deha-abhimāna (body-identification) reduction: treat identity labels as temporary; focus on ethical action and devotion that reshape future tendencies.
Vishishtadvaita: Maintains a real self distinct from the body while explaining embodied diversity through karma within the Lord’s lawful governance—supporting qualified non-dualism’s real plurality and dependence.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse states that the various births—divine, human, animal, or plant—are produced by karma; bodily categories are effects, not the true essence of the self.
He denies that a being is intrinsically a deva, human, beast, or tree, and explains these as merely bodily-form distinctions arising from karmic causation.
By reducing embodied status to karma and form, the text points to a higher, unchanging reality—Vishnu as the supreme ground—while the jīva’s worldly identities remain contingent and transient.